Tony Abbott’s RET, emissions policies made energy policy a farce
The Australian
Judith Sloan
12 August 2017

Tony Abbott may have seen the light on energy policy since ceasing to be prime minister. But when he had the top job, he made two fatal mistakes.

The first was to agree to the renewable energy target being renegotiated rather than ditched or paused. The second was to agree to the emissions reduction targets of 26 per cent to 28 per cent on 2005 levels by 2030 as part of our commitment to the Paris climate agreement.

What was he thinking? He may claim he acted on the basis of dodgy advice — and there was an overabundance of it at the time (and still is) — but he was warned on both matters. He decided to go with the flow. Take the decision to lower the RET from the ludicrous target…