Latest news with #AndrewWallace
Sky News AU
4 days ago
- Politics
- Sky News AU
Anthony Albanese quick to ‘cozy up' to Xi Jinping since election win
Shadow Cabinet Secretary Andrew Wallace highlights Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping. 'Clearly, the Prime Minister has been trying to cozy up to Xi Jinping ever since he became Prime Minister,' Mr Wallace told Sky News host Caroline Marcus. 'The US is our closest ally from an alliance perspective – it will be very interesting how the Prime Minister goes at the G7 in Canada … whether he even gets a meeting with President Trump. 'In my view, he is really not demonstrating the fact that our closest ally is the United States … Australia relies upon the United States as our most critical defence ally.'
Sky News AU
16-05-2025
- Business
- Sky News AU
Labor accused of 'sending the country broke' by chasing renewables targets, as report warns major delays mean Australia will fall well short
Liberal MP Andrew Wallace has accused the Albanese government of "sending the country broke" through its pursuit of renewable energy targets after a report found the nation was set to fall well short of Labor's goal. Global consultancy Wood Mackenzie issued a warning to the government earlier this week, publishing a report which found Australia would not reach Labor's ambitious goal of 82 per cent of renewables in the electricity grid by 2030. Major delays in the delivery of solar and wind projects instead has the nation on track to hit just 68 per cent by the end of the decade, 14 per cent lower then the target. According to the Clean Energy Council, over $9 billion worth of renewables projects secured financing in 2024, with the government investing significantly into ensuring infrastructure is developed. However, the significant cost of the investment has drawn criticism, with Mr Wallace using the report to question whether the nation was seeing a return on the spending of taxpayers' money. "Everybody knows that this government is not going to reach its targets," he told Sky News Australia. "We all know that you can't run a full-time economy with a part-time energy grid." Mr Wallace argued Labor's focus on battery production, as part of its plan to offset the intermittent production of solar and wind, was inadequate and claimed the lack of baseload power could compromise manufacturing, harming the economy. "Batteries are fine if you're gonna have a short-term drop-off in the grid, but the reality is you just can't provide, certainly can't, provide industry with the power it needs with batteries," he said. While Labor has sought to highlight renewables investment and increased use of its Capacity Investment Scheme as proof Australia is on track to meet its ambitious targets, most experts believe hitting the 82 per cent figure is not possible within five years. According to Wood Mackenzie, this could result in some of the nation's ageing coal-fired power plants being forced to continue operations for up to seven more years, further risking grid stability and doing little to lower the cost of power for households. Mr Wallace claimed energy bills could yet rise further, before asking what "the point" of the government's ambitious target was given the pressure it was placing on families and businesses. "We're paying $1,300 more a year in our energy bills and that is continuing to climb," he said. "There's been those sugar hits that are in the rebates that the Commonwealth provided, and the states also provided, but, you know, that cannot be continued long term. "The reality is that Australians are paying more for their energy costs, but paying more because we no longer have energy security. "If you can't have energy security then what is the point in having these targets that we are setting ourselves, which are sending the country broke?"
Sky News AU
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Sky News AU
Sussan Ley ‘represents our best chance to rebuild', says Liberal MP
Liberal MP Andrew Wallace has weighed in on the party's closely contested leadership vote, describing Sussan Ley as the party's best chance to rebuild. Mr Wallace spoke to Sky News Australia following the leadership vote — in which Ley narrowly defeated Angus Taylor 29 votes to 25. 'I think that Sussan represents our best chance to rebuild, and that's what this has got to be about,' Mr Wallace told Sky News Australia. 'For the next three years, you know, people will, you know, commentators will write us off if they haven't already, but I lived through that era in Queensland where the Labor Party were reduced to seven seats, and Annastacia Palaszczuk then went on and won the next election in the landslide. So these things can be done. 'In the right circumstances, they can be done. We can win the next election. In the right circumstances, what we need to do is rebuild, look at where we went so wrong, and fix it.'
Sky News AU
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Sky News AU
Australia is served best by a ‘united conservative' Coalition
Liberal MP Andrew Wallace discusses Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price's defection to the Liberal Party. "Australia is served best when we have a strong united conservative side of politics," Mr Wallace told Sky News host Danica De Giorgio. "The reality is that the Liberal Party needs to be in a Coalition with the National Party to form government and vice versa."
Sky News AU
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Sky News AU
The Coalition needs to ‘work together' to take the fight to Labor
Liberal MP Andrew Wallace discusses the possible candidates for the Liberal Party leadership as the party is set to meet next week to select the new opposition leader. "I think both of them have certain skills and qualities that would serve the country and the Liberal Party very well … I take this very very seriously and I am not going to give my vote away," Mr Wallace told Sky News host Danica De Gorigio. "We are a team of champions, and we need to get out there on the park and work together to take the fight to Labor."
