Good luck with that: ACCC boss
COMPETITION tsar Rod Sims says it is unworkable to include emission-reduction initiatives in an overarching energy policy because of polarised opinions in Canberra.
“If your prerequisite for an energy policy is to get agreement on emission reductions, I can only say good luck,” the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chair said at an energy conference yesterday.
“Every political party in the country has a different approach to emissions reduction. Every single party.
“Now I’m not going to buy into that debate – it’s a stunningly important debate – but I’m simply saying if that’s your hurdle, good luck.”
The federal government’s dumped national energy guarantee attempted to fuse an emissions reduction component with a reliability requirement, while reducing wholesale electricity prices.
But the proposed scheme was met with unrest within the Coalition, compounding over a decade of paralysis on climate policy.
New Energy Minister Angus Taylor has relegated carbon emissions behind the government’s higher priorities of cutting power prices and ensuring system reliability.
Mr Sims yesterday said it made more sense for carbon pollution levels to be dealt with separately from power price and reliability goals.