Scott Morrison says coal power stations should ‘run as long as they possibly can’
Scott Morrison has said the Coalition wants Australia’s coal power stations to “run as long as they possibly can”, vowing to support the coal industry if re-elected.
Morrison made the comments in a Sky News town hall on the New South Wales Central Coast on Monday, during which he tested attack lines against Anthony Albanese and warned leadership was “not for the faint-hearted or inexperienced”.
Asked by the audience if he supports the coal industry, Morrison replied “the short answer is yes” but stopped short of endorsing a call for the government to build new coal power stations.
Morrison said the Coalition’s policy is for coal power stations to “run as long as they possibly can” to provide baseload power “when the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine”.
He noted the government’s investment in the $600m Kurri Kurri gas power plant, which he said provides “backup” power and can be switched off an on.
Morrison said he is concerned about the early retirement of the Erraring coal station.
“We want to see replacement for that reliable, affordable capacity here in the Central Coast.”
Morrison said if the private sector wants to build new coal power plants that was “fine”, provided they were “commercial” and “stack-up”. He suggested this was unlikely, given the required state government approvals.
On electric vehicles, Morrison said he was “not forcing anyone to drive anything” and the Coalition’s policy was one of “choice not mandates”. In November Morrison deliberately mischaracterised Labor’s electric vehicles policy as somehow forcing drivers to adopt electric vehicles.
The town hall continued Morrison’s attempts to reframe the election around national security and the economy in a bid to recover the government’s poor
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