Coalition backs a cheaper, better, fairer energy future for all Australians

Monday 17 November 2025

Member for Mallee Dr Anne Webster said the Coalition’s joint agreement to drop net zero will help Mallee households and businesses achieve cheaper, better and fairer energy and a way to lower emissions.

Dr Webster said she was pleased the Coalition had reached a principled position, working together in a pragmatic, consultative and respectful way and securing specific policy to address the reckless railroading of regional communities in Mallee and beyond.

“The Coalition’s decision to drop net zero puts Australians and Mallee first,” Dr Webster said.

“Our plan is far cheaper than Labor’s $9 trillion net zero plan, which would put Medicare and NDIS at risk.

“The Coalition is putting Mallee households first and protecting household budgets during a cost-of-living crisis.”

Dr Webster emphasised that over 5,300 Mallee voters’ answers to Mallee’s Biggest Survey - conducted since the federal election – showed over two-thirds opposed net zero and over 82 per cent opposed paying over $50 a year towards it.

Dr Webster said Mallee voters know net zero is failing Australians and Labor's economics of lowering emissions needed to be challenged.

“OECD countries have been cutting their emissions by 1 per cent per year while Australia has been cutting its emissions by about 2 per cent per year - double the OECD rate.

“We should do our fair share to reduce global emissions, but not more than the rest of the world. There is no value in streaking ahead of the nation at the cost of our energy security, food security and jobs.

“The voices of Mallee’s farmers and farming communities have been loud and clear that they do not want to be railroaded into imposed wind turbines, solar panels and hundreds of kilometres of transmission lines under Federal and Victorian Labor net zero policies.

“After strong advocacy for Mallee, the Coalition has adopted policy to amend the Climate Change Act 2022 to enshrine a technology-neutral Affordable Electricity Scheme and establish a Code of Conduct for electricity infrastructure developers (such as VicGrid and Transmission Company Victoria) that requires a social licence and protects prime agricultural land and native habitats. Compliance with the Code would be required for developers to access federal funding and the Code will be embedded in State Energy Deals and inserted in the Climate Change Act 2022

“Labor is out of touch. Under Labor’s net zero, electricity prices are up by 39 per cent. Gas prices are up by 46 per cent. In the meantime, real wages have dropped back to 2011 levels and 7000 manufacturing jobs have been lost. Labor’s net zero plan has lost its social licence.”

For more information go to https://powering.au  

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How is it cheaper, better and fairer?

 Cheaper

 Dr Webster said we should adopt the best energy generation for Australia, not to put all our eggs in one energy basket.

 “Our policy means opening up our grid to nuclear by removing the moratorium – a future 65 per cent of Mallee’s Biggest Survey respondents said they are likely to support. We well also use emission reduction technology in gas and coal, like carbon capture utilisation and storage, while having renewables as a sensible proportion of the mix, not Labor’s all-renewables approach,” Dr Webster said.

 “We will mandate the Australian Energy Market Operator to source the cheapest energy, rather than their current mandate of sourcing energy aligned to Labor’s 2030 and 2035 targets, making our grid more expensive and more unreliable.

 Mallee’s Biggest Survey respondents put affordability the top priority for our energy grid, at 53 per cent, ahead of reliability at 38 per cent. Less than 9 per cent believe reducing emissions should be the priority.

Better

 “Australia can’t mitigate all the world’s emissions when we’re only a bit over 1 per cent of global emissions, so why wouldn’t we focus more on adaptation with direct environmental action in land management and investment in disaster mitigation like flood levees, dams and more cool burns,” Dr Webster said.

 “Direct environmental action should not be about locking up agricultural land, especially when 95 per cent of Australia’s emission reductions to date have only been achieved by locking up our productive landscape.”

“Gas is crucial to the energy transition and the Coalition will establish an east coast gas reservation scheme, provided that scheme guarantees supply to Australian consumers, protects contracts with our trading partners, and puts downward pressure on prices.

 Fairer

 “Australia should continue to do its fair share in reducing emissions, but under Labor’s $9 trillion plan we will streak ahead of the rest of the world, making us uncompetitive,” MP name said.

 “Labor’s 2030 and 2035 targets will reduce our emission by 4.7 per cent per year, putting pressure on households and industry.”

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