Thursday 2 June 2022 02:40 AM Barnaby Joyce issues a dire warning to Australia amid power crisis trends now

Barnaby Joyce has called for Australia to generate more coal-fired power to ease the energy crisis as power bills soar.

The former deputy prime minister said Australia should follow European nations including Germany, Italy, Bulgaria, Romania and the Czech Republic which plan to burn more coal as a temporary measure while they reduce reliance on Russian gas.

Sanctions on major oil and gas exporter Russia over its invasion of Ukraine as well as soaring demand after Covid-19 lockdowns have seen global energy prices skyrocket.

Germany has drawn up a bill this week ordering coal power plants that were due to shut down to be maintained on standby in case they are needed at short notice. 

Financial comparison group Finder is predicting Australian electricity prices could double in July, taking average monthly bills in NSW from about $120 to $240.

Mr Joyce, who is against Australia's net zero carbon emissions by 2050 target which his own government implemented, said one solution is to burn more coal and gas.

He blasted the Coalition for not building more fossil fuel plants or nuclear power stations which are banned in Australia.

'We've sort of gone off on this tangent that we don't need coal fired power, we don't need baseload power,' Mr Joyce told 2GB on Thursday morning. 

'And of course that's like saying you don't need a roof, that you can live alright in your house if you just wear a coat and unfortunately these chickens are coming home to roost.'

Labor Treasurer Jim Chalmers takes the opposite view, insisting that a 'decade of inaction' on renewable energy under the Coalition government has left Australians paying more for their power. 

'These are the costs and consequences of almost a decade of a former government which had 22 different energy policies, a range of different energy ministers, and didn't take the steps that we needed them to take,' he told reporters on Thursday.

Dr Chalmers said the Coalition had failed at 'improving transmission, getting cleaner and cheaper energy into the system, or injecting some certainty in the market so that we can get the investment that we need.'

The new Labor government wants 82 per cent of the nation's electricity to come from renewable sources by 2030 and believes this will bring down power prices because hydro, solar and wind energy is cheaper.

Currently about 60 per cent of Australia's electricity comes from coal, 32 per cent from renewables and eight per cent from gas. 

Mr Joyce, who was toppled as Nationals leader on Monday, said he wants to change public opinion to garner support for more coal and gas.   

'What we have to do now is get the attitude change in the public that you want to get baseload power up and running,' he said.

'You want to get the coal fired power stations up and running. You have to seriously consider nuclear because the alternative is coming to you in the mail and it's called the power bill and it's going through the roof.' 

The MP for New England said soaring power prices will hurt Australians on lower incomes the most. 

'Now for a lot of people who are wealthy, this is an inconvenience, but for people who are poor, they become cold,' he said as parts of Australia's east are hit with sub-zero temperatures at the start of winter. 

'What we have to understand is to look after people who are doing it tough, they must have affordable power. 

'We must have affordable petrol, we must have affordable groceries, otherwise poor people suffer. 

'And if you go down a path of some sort of almost religious zeal about climate policy, at the expense of everything else then you can't win the argument.' 

Even though it was only introduced in October, Mr Joyce claimed the net zero target was contributing to rising power prices. 

'Every time you pay your power bill, you're paying for the 2050 target. Every time you pay for your petrol price you're paying for the 2050 target,' he said. 

Fossil fuel subsidies across all Australian governments rose in 2021-22 to hit $11.6 billion.

In interviews on Thursday morning, Dr Chalmers said there was no quick fix to the energy crisis and would not commit to limiting gas exports under the Australian Domestic Gas Reservation Mechanism.

'I don't want to pre-empt any of those kinds of discussions,' he said.

'It has its own challenges and it is not immediate. There is a series of processes that we would need to go through.

'We need to be upfront and recognise that there is not one thing that we can do to fix this overnight.' 

The EU's green deal commissioner Frans Timmermans believes Europe can still meet emissions reductions goals while temporarily burning more coal as long as nations switch Russian gas for renewables at the same time.

Of the EU's 27 member countries, 17 have increased their plans to increase renewable energy since 2020, think tanks Ember and the Centre for Research and Clean Air said.

If achieved, the countries' latest plans would see 63 per cent of EU electricity produced from renewables by 2030, up from 55 per cent under their 2019 policies, the researchers said.

Germany and the Netherlands both hiked their renewable energy goals this year, while countries including Austria, Greece and Ireland have raised theirs since 2020. 

Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovenia and others set coal exit dates, and France offered renewable home heating subsidies. 

How millions of Australian families will be AT LEAST $670-a-MONTH worse off before Christmas - amid chilling admission by Labor's new money man that country's economic outlook is DIRE

By Stephen Johnson

A typical Australian family is set to be $670 a month worse off by Christmas as interest rates and grocery costs rise alongside a doubling of petrol taxes and electricity bills.

New Treasurer Jim Chalmers is warning of 'skyrocketing inflation' with the Reserve Bank of Australia widely expected to inflict five more interest rate increases before the end of 2022 in an attempt to put the brakes on price rises.

'This perfect storm of energy price spikes is doing enormous damage to our employers, to our households, and to our national economy,' he said.

'There are far more troubling aspects in our economy: skyrocketing inflation is a big challenge.'