Newly appointed Minister for Energy Angus Taylor has a plan that could slash the cost of electricity by $3.2 billion.
Mr Taylor takes charge of energy after it was broken off from the Environment portfolio by new PM Scott Morrison in a gesture signalling major energy market reform.
While working as a financial analyst for Port Jackson Partners in 2013, Mr Taylor authored a report that suggested the costs of electricity could be reduced by dropping the Renewable Energy Target.
Newly appointed Minister for Energy Angus Taylor has a plan that could slash the cost of electricity by $3.2 billion
Speaking at an event in 2013, he claimed that dropping subsidies for wind farms would cut energy bills by more than $3billion.
Mr Taylor also argued that emission targets could still be met and the savings could be up to $300 per household by 2020.
Energy and emissions targets have long been a dividing issue in party rooms with policies going as far back as the Rudd government’s proposed Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme failing to gain consensus.
The latest iteration of the policy which Mr Turnbull called the National Energy Guarantee was instrumental in his downfall with the conservative faction in the Liberal Party staunchly opposed to the plan.
A key point was to legislate a reduction in emissions of 26 per cent, a number in line with the Paris Climate Agreement, with critics arguing that with the big emitters not meeting that mark, why should we legislate it.
As the new front bench was sworn in on Tuesday, Mr Morrison labelled Mr Taylor his ‘most important minister.’
Mr Taylor also argued that emission targets could still be met and the savings could be up to $300 per household by 2020 (file picture)
‘A tough job, but an extremely important one that has a big impact on so many Australian households and businesses,’ Mr Taylor tweeted of the appointment.
Many see Mr Taylor, who studied a Master of Economics at Oxford University, as the man to bring sense to the debate.
‘The problem with energy policy for years is it doesn’t focus on the energy, it focuses on if you are in favour of coal, wind, solar or hydro,’ Mr Taylor said.
‘What we should be wanting is reliable, affordable power that brings down our emissions.’
The ‘Minister for getting energy prices down’ as the new PM labelled him when he announced his new front bench on Sunday, has long been a critic of rushing into a transition to renewable energy, particularly the wind farms being built in his electorate of Hume.
‘The obsession with emissions at the expense of reliability and affordability has been a massive mistake,’ he told radio shock jock Ray Hadley two weeks ago.
Speaking at an event in 2013, he claimed that dropping subsidies for wind farms would cut energy bills by more than $3billion (stock photo)