Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

That is a ridiculous question. Of course we would welcome a new coal-fired power station. There is nothing new about that. The Prime Minister is on the record saying that. The National Energy Guarantee actually provides the certainty that investors into a future coal-fired power station need in order to ensure that they can have certainty around that investment. We are not ideological; we're not religious about these things. We are focused on bringing down the costs of electricity for working families around Australia and ensuring that businesses around Australia can be competitive internationally. And we are focused on making sure that the lights stay on.

If you look at Labor jurisdictions around Australia, not the least of which is the discredited Labor state government in South Australia which was voted out of government lately, they couldn't even keep the lights on. Our focus is on making sure that we bring electricity prices down, that we keep the lights on and that we meet our emissions reduction targets in a way that is economically responsible. (Time expired)