Former PM Tony Abbott had made a final attempt to undermine the Coalition on the National Energy Guarantee.
Mr Abbott alleged that the Government was creating an “obsession” around emissions and reiterated his calls to scrap the Paris climate deal he agreed to while in office.
The NEG will be discussed by Coalition MPs in a party meeting tomorrow, following a meeting between the Federal Energy Minister and his state counterparts that took place on Friday.
Industry insiders and business interest groups have urged the Government to support the plan, saying that it would help reduce prices and improve reliability.
Mr Abbott has said that he disagrees with the groups that are lobbying in the interest of business. He said that they were “being polite to the Government” due to the fact they “appreciate that Labor would be even worse”.
He went on to say that it was “a bit sad” that the government was “developing emissions obsessions” after ostensibly being elected to end the same behaviour from Labor.
Mr Abbott then made a clumsy attempt to re-appropriate a speech made by former Prime Minister John Howard in 2001 referring to asylum seekers. In his version, Abbott instead spoke about energy policy rather than immigration.
Barnaby Joyce, the former deputy prime minister, also took aim at the Paris agreement, citing that everyday Australian didn’t care about it.
Now it seems both Mr Abbott and Mr Joyce have signalled they may cross the parliamentary floor to vote against the NEG.