Opposition leader says he will ‘leave it to other experts to talk about’ while simultaneously criticising Labor’s ‘secret’ climate targetsInteractive guide to electorates in the Australian electionGina: the billionaire who wants to make Australia greatSee all our Australian election 2025 coverageGet ourbreaking news email,free app ordaily news podcastPeter Dutton is, for now at least, keeping in the shadows modelling he claims shows his gas policy will reduce electricity prices, while simultaneously criticising Anthony Albanese for not releasing Labor modelling on climate targets.On day one of the election campaign, Dutton revealed the Liberals had commissioned modelling on his plan to increase gas supply in Australia, but he repeatedly did not divulge what it found about price impacts.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email Continue reading…Opposition leader says he will ‘leave it to other experts to talk about’ while simultaneously criticising Labor’s ‘secret’ climate targetsInteractive guide to electorates in the Australian electionGina: the billionaire who wants to make Australia greatSee all our Australian election 2025 coverageGet ourbreaking news email,free app ordaily news podcastPeter Dutton is, for now at least, keeping in the shadows modelling he claims shows his gas policy will reduce electricity prices, while simultaneously criticising Anthony Albanese for not releasing Labor modelling on climate targets.On day one of the election campaign, Dutton revealed the Liberals had commissioned modelling on his plan to increase gas supply in Australia, but he repeatedly did not divulge what it found about price impacts.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email Continue reading…
Peter Dutton is, for now at least, keeping in the shadows modelling he claims shows his gas policy will reduce electricity prices, while simultaneously criticising Anthony Albanese for not releasing Labor modelling on climate targets.
On day one of the election campaign, Dutton revealed the Liberals had commissioned modelling on his plan to increase gas supply in Australia, but he repeatedly did not divulge what it found about price impacts.
The opposition leader said he would “leave it to other experts to talk about their analysis”, and instead insisted the modelling would be released at some point during the five-week campaign.
Campaigning on his home turf in Brisbane, Dutton said he would not name a target price he wanted power bills to fall to, or set a 2035 emissions reduction target before the election.
Twice on Saturday Dutton was targeted by protesters from the climate group Rising Tide, who infiltrated events at a XXXX brewery and a Chinese restaurant. Two women yelled criticism of his gas policy, holding signs calling for “no new coal or nuclear” power. Both were quickly forced out by security.
Campaign stops are closely guarded secrets for security reasons. It’s unclear how protesters are learning about Dutton’s movements.
When pressed by reporters why the Coalition hadn’t released its modelling, Dutton pledged to share it before the election. He didn’t comment further when asked what it said or why it remained under wraps.
“We’ll let other economists talk about their modelling,” he said.
“Our plan is based on economics. If you bring more supply into the market, more gas into the market, you’ll bring the price down.”
Only moments earlier, Dutton had criticised Albanese for not releasing Labor modelling on future climate targets.
“Mr Albanese’s 2035 plan, which he’s got the modelling of … but [he] refuses to release that,” Dutton claimed.
“So the Labor Party’s secret modelling on the 2035 target, if it was good for the country, why wouldn’t he release it before the election?”
Labor sources said the government had not received that advice from the Climate Change Authority. Advice on a 2035 target was due in February, but the authority requested more time to analyse the effects of the Trump presidency on global emissions.
In a statement, energy minister Chris Bowen said Dutton’s energy policies “don’t stack up and will actually force up prices”.
Bowen claimed Dutton was asked nine times on Saturday about the modelling. “[He] was given nine chances to come clean with the Australian people about the details of his energy policy. He failed nine times.”
Dutton said his plan had been modelled by Frontier Economics, which also produced analysis of the Coalition’s nuclear plan. The nuclear modelling did not produce any concrete projections for how it would lower electricity prices.
‘Embarrassment’
Earlier on Channel Nine’s Today, Dutton pledged his plan would bring down prices economy-wide because it would cut input costs for manufacturing and production. He said extra gas could be brought online “by the end of this calendar year”.
“We can do it straight away because the gas is there … it doesn’t require any infrastructure, it’s a matter of turning it back into the economy,” he said.
Energy experts have expressed doubts Dutton’s plans to force gas producers to sell more of the fossil fuel domestically could bring down prices.
Albanese on Saturday described Dutton’s plan as an “embarrassment”, noting Labor had moved to cap gas prices, and that the Labor government had already brought on more supply than Dutton’s plan would deliver.
Labor went to the 2022 election with a target to cut emissions by 43% by 2030, based on modelling commissioned from climate economics company Reputex.
The government has said it will release its 2035 target after the election, delaying that decision after the Climate Change Authority requested more time.
Dutton called Labor “reckless” for basing its 2030 target on external modelling, not advice from government officials. He said the Coalition would not release its own 2035 target before the election, because he wanted advice from public servants in the Treasury and finance departments.
One of Dutton’s other major policies is a plan to cut 41,000 public servants.
It is unclear exactly which members of the public service the Coalition would seek to cut, beyond a pledge to not target “frontline” workers.
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