The Morrison cabinet has been announced and despite a shuffling of the chairs and a few new faces, the fresh frontbench appears to be more of the same.

It’s been speculated that a Labor-lite, moderate policy manifesto could come from Morrison. And yesterday’s Cabinet announcement hasn’t done much to shatter that pre-conception.

It’s just solidified it.  

“That’s because the reality is this cabinet is not dissimilar from the one that’s just been replaced,” says Tom Switzer, Executive Director at the Centre for Independent Studies.

 “The Liberal Party is a broad church of liberals’ and conservatives.’ My sense is the new PM has done very little to reach out to conservatives.”    

However the real test for the new Coalition will be energy policy. After Turnbull’s flagship National Energy Guarantee become the source of his ultimate demise, it’s unclear how Morrison will conduct the sensitive juggle between getting prices down and emission reductions.  

“The NEG was very much a Morrison, Turnbull, Frydenberg initiative. So with Morrison as PM and Frydenberg as Deputy PM, it’s not clear what their agenda is now on energy.”

Many are taking Angus Taylor’s appointment to the energy portfolio as an indication that reliability and cost will be the priority in the energy policy trilemma. Meanwhile, the seperation of energy and environment portfolios, fused together by Turnbull, is thought to be both a symbolic and tangible indication that a new era in electricity market reform is on the horizon.  

“The fundamental problem that everyone needs to recognise is you can’t be saying on one hand that you want to reduction emissions, and then on the other, that you want to reduce prices,” reiterates Switzer.

“If you’re truly going to decarbonise the economy, you have to increase the price. That’s why in virtually all liberal democracies, it’s very difficult to decarbonise an economy.”

“Because the people in electorates, if they’re asked to choose between lower emissions and lower prices, they’ll always go with the latter.”

The Morrison cabinet has been announced and despite a shuffling of the chairs and a few new faces, the fresh frontbench appears to be more of the same.
It&rsquo;s been speculated that a Labor-lite, moderate policy manifesto could come from Morrison. And yesterday&rsquo;s Cabinet announcement hasn&rsquo;t done much to shatter that pre-conception.
It&rsquo;s just solidified it.&nbsp;&nbsp;
&ldquo;That&rsquo;s because the reality is this cabinet is not dissimilar from the one that&rsquo;s just been replaced,&rdquo; says Tom Switzer, Executive Director at the Centre for Independent Studies.
&nbsp;&ldquo;The Liberal Party is a broad church of liberals&rsquo; and conservatives.&rsquo; My sense is the new PM has done very little to reach out to conservatives.&rdquo;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
However the real test for the new Coalition will be energy policy. After Turnbull&rsquo;s flagship National Energy Guarantee become the source of his ultimate demise, it&rsquo;s unclear how Morrison will conduct the sensitive juggle between getting prices down and emission reductions.&nbsp;&nbsp;
&ldquo;The NEG was very much a Morrison, Turnbull, Frydenberg initiative. So with Morrison as PM and Frydenberg as Deputy PM, it&rsquo;s not clear what their agenda is now on energy.&rdquo;
Many are taking Angus Taylor&rsquo;s appointment to the energy portfolio as an indication that reliability and cost will be the priority in the energy policy trilemma. Meanwhile, the seperation of energy and environment portfolios, fused together by Turnbull, is thought to be both a symbolic and tangible indication that a new era in electricity market reform is on the horizon.&nbsp;&nbsp;
&ldquo;The fundamental problem that everyone needs to recognise is you can&rsquo;t be saying on one hand that you want to reduction emissions, and then on the other, that you want to reduce prices,&rdquo; reiterates Switzer.
&ldquo;If you&rsquo;re truly going to decarbonise the economy, you have to increase the price. That&rsquo;s why in virtually all liberal democracies, it&rsquo;s very difficult to decarbonise an economy.&rdquo;
&ldquo;Because the people in electorates, if they&rsquo;re asked to choose between lower emissions and lower prices, they&rsquo;ll always go with the latter.&rdquo;

Australia Overnight with Mike Jeffreys, 12am – 4am weekdays.

Wake Up Australia, 4am - 9:30am weekdays.

Australia Overnight with Mike Jeffreys, 12am – 4am weekdays.
Wake Up Australia, 4am - 9:30am weekdays.

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