Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Vice-President of the Executive Council) Share this | Hansard source

I can confirm my answer to an earlier question. Under the Turnbull government, the policy on emissions reduction was to pursue a 26 per cent emissions reduction on 2005 levels by 2030. That continues to be our policy. Beyond that, we have announced our energy policy to bring electricity prices down and to ensure that electricity supplies are as reliable as they possibly can be to avoid the sorts of blackouts that we experienced under Labor state governments in years gone by. That is in four key parts. We are introducing a price safety net. We are stopping price gouging. We are backing investment in reliable power—supporting 24/7 reliable power. And today, of course, the Treasurer announced that we will be introducing the Treasury Laws Amendment (Prohibiting Energy Market Misconduct) Bill 2018, which is a bill that will provide a legislative framework to strengthen the government's ability to address misconduct in electricity markets. This is, of course, a bill which creates new prohibitions against certain misconduct in electricity retail, wholesale and contract markets which is detrimental to competition or consumers. It's a measure of last resort, but it's a demonstration of our commitment to ensure that we do absolutely everything we can to bring down electricity prices and to ensure that electricity suppliers are reliable. The policy on emissions reduction today is the same as it was under Mr Turnbull. It's the same as it was under Mr Abbott.