Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

What it does is prioritise dispatchability, which had been sadly missing from all of the green-Left energy policies of the Labor Party. That, of course, supports thermal power. As far as Snowy Hydro 2.0 is concerned, I'd remind the honourable member of this: Snowy Hydro 2.0 will be a big baseload customer of all providers of energy—generators, renewables, but including coal-fired power. A power station that runs 24 hours a day, like a coal-fired power station, does not have the same demand 24 hours of the day. A big pumped hydro scheme will be buying power from coal-fired generators in the off-peak times and will provide that off-peak baseload demand. So it is one that will provide support right across the industry, but the bottom line is: let the market decide on which technology to determine. Let the market decide. What we are prioritising is affordability, reliability and meeting those emissions reduction targets. We can do all three. The NEG does it. It will bring down energy prices for the reasons that Paul Broad has advanced. It will bring down energy prices, and that is going to be good for families, it's going to be good for businesses, large and small, and above all it's going to be great for Australian jobs.

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