Energy Minister Chris Bowen and Coalition energy spokesperson Ted O'Brien have squared off over which major party will drive down power bills for struggling Australians.
Both MPs acknowledged the 3 May election was a "fork in the road" for Australia's energy transition as they kicked off the first election energy debate on Thursday afternoon at the National Press Club.
Bowen started his pitch highlighting Labor's "good progress", with renewables increasing from 33 to 46 per cent of the energy grid over the last three years, but said there is "more to do".
He labelled the Coalition's plan "risky", saying it would be "terrible for emissions, bad for prices, diabolical for reliability".
O'Brien's opening remarks were interrupted by a climate activist interjecting with demands to "stop new coal and gas projects".
A protester momentarily interrupted the energy debate on Thursday afternoon. Source: AAP / Dean Lewins
He pledged the Coalition's "balanced energy mix" would deliver a "strong" and "fiercely independent" market, warning of Australia's future dependence on "foreign supply chains".
The debate featured everything from Chinese menu analogies to nuclear energy plans — all leading to the key question: Which party will bring down power bills?
Here's what you missed.
Who will drive down power bills?
With many households feeling the burden of rising power prices, both leaders were asked to declare how much cheaper bills would be under their plans.
Bowen refused to quote a direct figure, possibly having learnt from Labor's 2022 commitment to reduce prices by $275, which the Coalition has repeatedly attacked as a broken promise.
"The pledge I do give is that energy prices will be cheaper under us than under Mr O'Brien," he said.
"Look, anybody who predicts energy prices in this very complicated geopolitical environment, I think, is making a punt. So I'm not going to do that."
O'Brien took this as an opportunity to attack Bowen for making decisions "based on gut".
He said under Frontier Economics modelling, the Coalition's nuclear plan would result in household gas bills falling by 7 per cent and industrial gas bills by 15 per cent by 2025-26.
But host Tom Connell highlighted the modelling was for the first year, and O'Brien was unable to provide figures for subsequent years.
Instead of answering the question, O'Brien challenged Bowen to apologise for the rising bills.
"I hope Chris [Bowen] takes the opportunity today just to look down the barrel of the camera and say, Australians, I got it wrong," he said.
Modelling compared to Chinese restaurant menus
Both sides repeatedly attacked each other's modelling and costs.
Bowen said: "I've seen more detail in a Chinese menu", saying the Frontier Economics modelling underpinning the Coalition's plan lacked detail.
The reference then continued, with O'Brien saying Labor's energy plan "wouldn't fit in a Chinese fortune cookie".
"If anything, that's probably where it would belong because you crack it open and all it would be, would be a slogan. No numbers, no plan, no modelling," he said.
The remark prompted Bowen to pull out a thick stack of expert reports which he said the government uses for their planning, comparing it to the Coalition's slim Frontier Economics report.
Climate Change & Energy Chris Bowen and Coalition energy spokesperson Ted O'Brien both pitched their energy vision as the best way to reduce bills. Source: AAP / Dean Lewis
"The work of the Australian Energy Market Operator, the work of the CSIRO, Australian energy market corporation, the difference between Ted and I [is] I listen to them [and] Ted ignores them."
Another point of contention was the cost of the Coalition's nuclear proposal.
Frontier Economics estimates the Coalition's plan to convert seven end-of-life coal-fired power plants into nuclear reactors will cost $331 billion.
Analysis by the Smart Energy Council estimates the price will be between $116 to $600 billion, using data from CSIRO's latest GenCost report. The $600 billion figure is often quoted by Labor MPs.
Will Australia stay in the Paris Agreement?
O'Brien promised the Coalition would conduct a full analysis of Australia's trajectory towards emissions targets if they win government.
When quizzed if the Coalition would withdraw Australia from the Paris Agreement if analysis showed the country wasn't on track to its 43 per cent reduction target, O'Brien declined to make a commitment either way.
"Once we've done that analysis, [we] will be making decisions along the lines that you pose," he said.
"I can commit that we will always act in the national interest, and we will be up front with the Australian people."
Bowen called the response "disappointing".
"I am disappointed to hear Ted's answer because, in effect, he couldn't confirm staying in Paris or leaving because [if you] change the 43 per cent target, you are leaving Paris."
Fired up, O'Brien hit back, saying: "You're happy for anybody to go broke on the way to achieve that."
Coalition reveals future of nuclear plan post-2025 election
O'Brien was asked whether the Coalition would view a loss at the upcoming election as a rejection of its nuclear plan by the Australian people and "end its advocacy of nuclear" as a result.
The Liberal MP rejected the "wild hypothetical", saying it was in Australia's national interest to pursue nuclear energy.
"I don't want to tempt the suggestion that we should be delaying action here; Australia is already behind the eight ball when it comes to zero emissions nuclear energy.
"The sooner we get going, the better ... nuclear will take a good decade before it comes online … so we can't delay. We need to get on with it."
O'Brien said even if it took another three years, "we have no intention of changing our view on that".
