The future of the renewable energy target (RET) remains in limbo, after Labor announced it would not support a deal while the government insisted on implementing biennial reviews.
On Friday Labor endorsed in principle a reduced target of 33,000 gigawatts an hour (GWh), paving the way for a bipartisan agreement.
But on Tuesday its environment spokesman, Mark Butler, said the inclusion of a two-yearly review of the RET would stifle investment and industry certainty.
“Unless the government drops that, this deal cannot proceed,” he told reporters.
Labor is also opposed to the inclusion of native wood burning, but says the reviews are the main sticking point.
“I thought we had a position of agreement based on the 33,000GWh large scale target. What the government should do is drop this silliness of re-arguing the case on the reviews, which were dropped months before,” Butler said.
“Get back to the real game, which is to find a revised large-scale renewable energy target, which we have agreed can be 33,000GWh, put it into the parliament, and let the industry get back on with building new projects and creating new jobs.”
On Monday, the Clean Energy Council said it was withdrawing its support for the RET while the reviews remained on the table.
The government had previously opposed the biennial reviews and pledged to remove them as recently as March.
“We will also remove the requirement for regular two-yearly reviews of the RET to give the industry the certainty it needs to move ahead,” a joint press release by environment minister Greg Hunt and industry minister Ian Macfarlane said then.
Negotiations over the target have continued for several months, after the government said the initial 41,000GWh would drive up electricity prices.
With the Greens opposed to any reduction of the target, the government needs six of the eight crossbenchers to agree before the legislation can pass the Senate.
Opposition to the 33,000 GWh also exists within the government, with two members of the Coalition telling Tuesday’s joint parties meeting that they could not support the target. One said that it would lead to the building of more unnecessary wind turbines, while the other said wind turbines have adverse health effects.
The reviews were part of the initial legislation on the RET, introduced by Labor. The party shifted its position to advocate for four-yearly reviews before the last federal election, citing the impact the reviews have on investor confidence.
