Press conference with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Climate Change Authority Chair Matt Kean

ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Well, thanks very much for joining us. This morning, I convened a meeting of our Cabinet and also a full meeting of the Federal Parliamentary Labor Party Caucus to discuss and consider the Climate Change Authority's independent, expert advice on Australia's 2035 emissions reduction target. Our Government knows that climate change is real, and we want to continue to seize the economic opportunity that the energy transition offers our nation. We listen to the science and we act in Australia's national interest, and that is why we're acting on the advice of the Climate Change Authority. And today, I'm joined by the two Ministers, the Minister for Climate Change and Energy, the Treasurer, but also by Matt Kean, the Chair of the Climate Change Authority. 

Today, I announce that we have accepted their advice that Australia's 2035 emissions target be 62 to 70 per cent. This is a responsible target, backed by the science, backed by a practical plan to get there and built on proven technology. It's the right target to protect our environment, to protect and advance our economy and jobs and to ensure that we act in our national interest and in the interest of this and future generations. Setting a 2035 target is a compulsory part of Australia's commitment to the Paris Agreement to keep temperatures from rising to dangerous levels. Alongside our 2035 target today, and the release of this report here, Australia's Net Zero Plan going forward, we're announcing significant new measures that build on our existing plans. Minister Bowen will take you through those measures shortly, but first I would like to add these points.

Our plan for the next 10 years builds on the foundations that we have laid over the last three. Overwhelmingly, the three areas where we need to reduce most of our emissions come from electricity, transport, and industry. On electricity, we'll continue to support clean energy with renewables backed by gas and battery storage. In 2022, we inherited a national energy grid that had been run into the ground. We know that 24 out of 28 coal fired power stations announced their closure under the former government. They announced 23 different energy policies and didn't land one of them. That chaos and denial and delay led to a bigger challenge than what’d have occurred if they had acted on the science earlier. Today, we're announcing $2 billion for the Clean Energy Finance Corporation to continue to drive downward pressure on electricity prices. This will help to accelerate long-term renewable projects right across our nation. In addition to that, we know that getting emissions down in the resources sector and heavy industry is the next major area, and we'll help heavy industry to do the heavy lifting. Today we're announcing a new Net Zero $5 billion fund in the National Reconstruction Fund to help large industry decarbonise and scale up more renewables and low-emissions manufacturing. And this builds on what we've already been doing through the Safeguard Mechanism. And finally, lowering transport emissions will help us bring this target home, by expanding the use of electric vehicles, a new Vehicle Efficiency Standard and investing in more kerbside charging facilities. We announced yesterday, of course, $1.1 billion to encourage more production of clean fuels in Australia. And today, we're further announcing $40 million to accelerate the rollout of kerbside and fast EV charging.

Beyond these three areas, Australia already has a superpower – our people. And our people are acting. We've seen that with the take up, which has exceeded most people's expectations, of batteries in order to store energy that's being produced on Australian rooftops through solar. This shows the significant amount of progress which has been made. It's being made at – around 1,000 every weekday are being installed around the country. Like anything, as any technology gets better, it becomes cheaper and more people embrace it. It isn't a linear process. It happens in leaps and bounds. And since May 2022, we've added over 18 gigawatts of renewables, wind and solar, to the grid. Wind and solar capacity is up 45 per cent since we came to government, enough to power some 6 million households. And I'll conclude with this point, that a typical solar panel today is almost 10 times more powerful than it was 20 years ago and almost 10 times cheaper, one of the things that explains why this progress is good for households as well as being good for our national economy. I'll turn to the Energy Minister, then we'll hear from the Treasurer, and then from Mr Kean, and then we'll be happy to take your questions.

CHRIS BOWEN, MINISTER FOR CLIMATE CHANGE AND ENERGY: Thanks very much, Prime Minister. The global shift to clean energy is the biggest economic transformation since the Industrial Revolution and it presents Australia with our best-ever economic opportunity. If we get it right, if we make the right investments at the right time, we can grow our economy, create good jobs for Australians. And today, the Albanese Government decided to seize that opportunity. The Climate Change Authority puts it well in their advice to me. They say we have an abundance of solar and wind above the ground and a periodic table of critical minerals below the ground. And that is our key to economic prosperity. We can use these advantages to power hundreds of thousands of jobs and new investment to set us up for a bright economic future, making the most of our strengths and building our decarbonisation journey here and helping the rest of the world. 

So, that's why I recommended to the Cabinet, and the Cabinet recommended to the Caucus and the Government, that we accept the advice of the Climate Change Authority. Our target setting process is the best, most rigorous in the world, set out by the Climate Change Act that this Government put into place. It makes clear what the Climate Change Authority must consider and makes clear what I must consider in considering their advice. And I want to thank the Chair, Mr Kean, for his excellent work with his Board. He's pulled on his experience as Treasurer and Energy Minister of Australia's most populous state to determine what is achievable and ambitious and what can be done in a realistic fashion. The Board, which also consists of the Chief Scientist and former secretaries of departments of energy and climate at the state level, people with strong industry and scientific background, has made this advice to us, and we're very pleased to accept it. As the Prime Minister said, we also have to show how we'll achieve these targets. The Net Zero Plan, this updated plan today that we're releasing is that path, together with the six Sector Plans that we're releasing today, which show industry and investors what the Government thinks is the most feasible decarbonisation pathway beyond 2030. And those plans consider, contain, key initiatives, some of which the Prime Minister referred to.

The $2 billion recapitalisation of the Clean Energy Fund with an updated mandate to focus on the rollout of renewables, which is our cheapest form of energy. A $5 billion fund within the National Reconstruction Fund. Yesterday, the Treasurer and I announced $1.1 billion to support the Australian cleaner fuels industry. $40 million of kerbside charging because a lot of people want to buy, a lot of Australians want to buy an EV but are worried that they don't have access to a driveway or they can't put charges in their apartments at the moment. So, this will unlock that capacity. And also, $50 million to support Australia's sporting clubs to reduce their bills and emissions at the same time. So, all these investments are important, as well as new investments in energy performance and energy efficiency. We'll create, for the first time, a Statement of Demand Opportunities. We have an Energy Statement of Opportunities, a Gas Statement of Opportunities. We'll ask AEMO to prepare a Demand Statement of Opportunities and we'll expand NatHERS and NABERS, the tools which enable households and businesses to test the energy efficiency of their premises and make sure they are getting value for money and are driving energy efficiency as much as possible. All this together amounts to a serious, credible, robust plan which will help us achieve our targets. And when we took office in 2022, we inherited 10 years of denial and delay, a government which had spent 10 years arguing about whether climate change is real. We devoted our first term to ensuring that we're helping Australia get match fit for these opportunities. And today, we build on that and outline the path to 2035 and the path to 2050. A path which shows economic prosperity, a path which shows jobs and investment and Australia reducing our emissions. And with Australians installing a thousand batteries a day, taking up EVs at record rates, that tells me Australians are keen on that journey and want a government which helps them unlock those opportunities, and that's exactly what we intend to do. 

JIM CHALMERS, TREASURER: Thanks very much, Chris and everybody. An orderly transition to Net Zero is a golden economic opportunity for Australia. And the Treasury modelling that we are releasing today makes that abundantly clear. This is a huge economic opportunity for our country and its people, and we would be mad not to grasp it. The Treasury modelling quantifies the nature and the magnitude of this economic opportunity, and it compares that with two realistic alternatives as well. We asked the Treasury to model some scenarios to help inform the deliberations of the Cabinet, and also to underpin the announcement that we are making today. We asked the Treasury to model a 65 per cent target because we needed the time to put that modelling together and we wanted to make sure it was within the draft range that the CCA was consulting on. So, we asked them to model 65, which was obviously within the target that we are announcing today, and we asked them for three scenarios. The basic top-line scenario would see our economy $2.2 trillion bigger by 2050, an extra $36,000 per person wealthier, with 5.1 million more jobs and investment up 80 per cent. Now, that's the baseline scenario, which represents the trajectory that the Government believes is the baseline, coming from the arrangements that we are announcing today. We also asked for an upside scenario, which is a scenario where we make the most of the tremendous export opportunities presented by the global shift to Net Zero. And again, the economy would be much bigger under that scenario, and there'd be $68 billion more in sustainable exports as a consequence. We also asked the Treasury to model the disorderly transition, the alternative, if we leave the heavy lifting to others at the start of the 2040s and where our country and our economy would need to scramble to hit Net Zero by 2050. And in the disorderly transition, the economy would be cumulatively $1.2 trillion smaller than the baseline scenario. And you'll see in the press release, more like $2 trillion cumulatively smaller than the upside renewable exports scenario. Under the disorderly transition, there would be lower wages and higher electricity prices as well.

The Treasury modelling, which underpins the decisions that we've taken in this Net Zero plan, makes five overarching conclusions. Firstly, Australia can be a big beneficiary if we continue to take decisive action and set clear targets. Secondly, cheaper and cleaner energy will make us more competitive in our economy. Thirdly, clear and credible action means more jobs, higher wages and higher living standards. Fourthly, an orderly plan gives business the clarity and certainty to invest. And fifth, overarching conclusion is that a disorderly transition means fewer jobs, less investment, lower wages and living standards and higher power prices in a smaller economy. Now, you'll also see when you go through the Treasury modelling, that the only scenario which would be worse than a disorderly transition would be to abandon Net Zero completely. That would be a disaster for our economy, and some of the commentary in the Treasury document today makes that very clear. I also want to make it clear that the Treasury modelling is different to the modelling that Matt and his team sought from the CSIRO, and also different to the BCA modelling that you've seen in recent weeks. The BCA looked at the sorts of investment that we would need to see in our economy. At Matt's encouragement, the CSIRO looked at the pace of the getting to Net Zero. But even though this modelling has very different tasks, they look at very different sets of metrics. The conclusions at the top level are clear and they are consistent. And the conclusion is this an orderly transition is good for our economy and private investment will be the key.

So, we're announcing this target today and we're releasing all of this detailed modelling to give investors the clarity and the certainty that they need to invest with confidence. Now, this plan that we're releasing today is not some sort of optional extra. It's absolutely central to the modern, prosperous, competitive economy that we need to build to lift living standards in this country. Australians will be big beneficiaries of an orderly shift to Net Zero. And that's made even clearer by this modelling today. The target we're announcing today is right for the economy, it's right for the environment, and it's consistent with our obligations to future generations as well. And the modelling makes that really clear. There's lots of detail in there. I encourage you to get into it.

But before I hand over to Matt to say a few more things, I just wanted to briefly welcome the fact that the unemployment rate has stayed at 4.2 per cent today in really uncertain global conditions. Our labour market has been a source of genuine strength. More than 1.1 million jobs created under this Labor government, the lowest average unemployment of any government in the last 50 years. All Australians should be proud that while the global economy has been uncertain and volatile and unpredictable, we've been able to keep unemployment low. And we see that again in the figures today. These figures have been released alongside new migration figures as well. Net overseas migration in the figures today has now fallen for six consecutive quarters, 110,000 people net overseas migration in the March quarter compared with almost 129,000 the March quarter before. We are now 17,000 people lower than the Treasury forecast for net overseas migration. We are now 40 per cent below the peak that we saw in net overseas migration following COVID. I'll hand over to Matt and then the PM is going to direct traffic for the questions.

MATT KEAN, CLIMATE CHANGE AUTHORITY CHAIR: Well, thank you, Treasurer, Prime Minister and Minister. Today is about delivering two very real and critical outcomes for every single Australian. Firstly, opportunity. Opportunity for our people, for our farmers, for our businesses, for our regions, for our cities and for our economy. And secondly, delivering a cleaner, safer and better world for future generations of Australians. The Climate Change Authority was tasked by our national Parliament with plotting the environmental waypoints that will lead a stronger Australia to a Net Zero future. We considered over 500 submissions from stakeholders and conducted over 560 meetings and events. We considered the best available sites, the best-in-class economic modelling, and we built a bottom-up analysis of every sector of the economy to understand what each sector of the economy could contribute to this mission. We sought targets that will future proof our industries, our economy, our way of life and our planet. Today, I'm pleased on behalf of the Authority to release a body of work that is deliberate, considered, steeped in science, and takes into account the national and global environment. Because we need to be flexible to deal with whatever challenges are thrown at us, we've recommended a target range. The work that the Authority has established, clearly and undeniably, is that Australia's clean energy transition is an economic growth opportunity, not a drag. There is a path that will deliver benefits and savings, not costs. Our leading scientific body, the CSIRO, has done that work. This is a range that I'm hopeful that we can overachieve on. Our range positions Australia as a global leader on climate ambition. In fact, we are presenting a higher ambition than most other advanced economies. We can leverage our nation's natural gifts that are capable of supercharging a renewable energy transition and a march towards Net Zero. The modelling shows that every sector of the economy can benefit from this transition. Now, the Paris Agreement calls on countries to set their highest possible ambition in light of their national circumstances, and our bottom-up analysis proves that we've done exactly that. This target requires Australia to cut its emissions by half over the decade. It's ambitious, but it's absolutely feasible. Today's report is ambitious for Australia. It's ambitious for a prosperous future that places Australia's people and Australia's industries in the driver's seat on the global push to protect our planet. Today is a point in time when our country sets a deliberate path for that future.

PRIME MINISTER: Well, thanks very much, Matt. And I do want to thank you and the Authority for what is an outstanding piece of work that will be fully released today. Questions?

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, there will be a lot of people today who will be disappointed that it's not over 70 per cent, this target. Why couldn't you make it over 70 per cent?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, I'll ask Matt, but I think you just outlined that it's based upon the science and it's independent advice to the Government, but it's also consistent with the European Union have just announced that over the next 24 hours, they'll be considering a target range between 63 and 70 per cent. This is ambitious but it's achievable. Matt, do you want to add anything?

KEAN: The Climate Change Authority was required to consider a number of inputs into its decision-making process. The Act sets out that we're required to consider the science but also consider the impact on the economy and our broader society. We've done extensive analysis from a ground-up analysis looking at every sector of the economy and what it can contribute. We've done the best-in-class economic modelling using our premier scientific agency, the CSIRO. So, we've looked at providing a target that will future proof our industries, future proof our economy and future proof our way of life and protect the planet. That's what we were tasked with doing and I'm pleased to say that we've handed advice that is ambitious yet achievable.

JOURNALIST: I've just heard from Bill Hare, the chief of Climate Analytics, who says this number is worse than he feared, that it is in no way aligned with 1.5. Greenpeace Australia says the same thing. How, after releasing that risk assessment, that catastrophic risk assessment this week, can you announce a number that seems to set Australia on track for these outcomes?

MINISTER BOWEN: I'm particularly unsurprised by Mr Hare's comments, with respect to him. That's a very consistent view over very many years that he would expect express such a view about targets and governments of all persuasions. I think the Climate Change Authority Chair made it clear they are obliged under law to consider 1.5, and they therefore determined to recommend to the Government the maximum level of achievement possible. And that maximum level of achievement possible based on all the analysis and modelling is exactly the target they've recommended, 62 to 70, and exactly what we've accepted. And as the Prime Minister said, it's ambitious by international standards compared to likeminded, similar economies. It is ambitious by what has been laid out in terms of halving emissions from today. But it's achievable. You've heard me say many times, Nick, a target has got to be two things, ambitious and achievable. A target over 70 is not achievable. Is not. That advice is very clear. We have gone for the maximum level of ambition that's achievable.

JOURNALIST: Thank you, Prime Minister, two questions. The range is higher than comparable economies such as Canada and New Zealand. What do you say to that and what will the impact be? And secondly, will we see a tariff, a carbon tariff, to reach this goal?

PRIME MINISTER: Our policy, our plan to get there is in Australia's Net Zero Plan that we're also releasing today, in terms of sectoral plans. And we think we've got the sweet spot. There will be criticism from some who say it's too high, there's some who will say that it's too low. What we have done is accept the Climate Change Authority's advice and importantly, this is world-best practise. Other economies don't have the independent advice that we've established, the legislative targets, the mechanisms to get there through the Safeguard Mechanism, the Capacity Investment Scheme, in addition to that, the additional policies that we're announcing today in order to achieve the outcomes that are in Australia's national interest, to seize the opportunities whilst dealing with the challenge which is there in what is the most significant transformation in the global economy since the Industrial Revolution.

JOURNALIST: Are there going to be changes to government policies to get to this target, like changes to the Safeguard Mechanism or a new renewable energy target for 2035?

MINISTER BOWEN: Well, what we've said is that schemes like the new Vehicle Efficiency Scheme and the Safeguard Mechanism are working and working well and have an important contribution to make, not only to 2030 and 2030 beyond, but both are subject to legislative reviews next year. That is not an announcement, that's a statement of fact. Those reviews will look at how well they're working, what changes need to be considered. That review will – both of those reviews, separate reviews will occur, give advice to me, which I'll give to the Prime Minister and Cabinet.

JOURNALIST: 62 to 70 is quite a big range. Why has the Government chosen to go in such a large range. And does it mean that in reality that the target is actually 62, because that's the minimum that you have to achieve? And then I also have a second question. Minister Bowen, you just said that 75 is not practically achievable. Scientists have said that we need to be aiming for 75 in order to align ourselves with the 1.5 degree goal. Are you therefore saying that 1.5 degrees is not something you consider achievable?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, I'll answer the first question, which is, as someone who's engaged with leaders of other nations, it's actually pretty consistent. Brazil has an 8 per cent range, Singapore, indeed, has a 12 per cent range. As I said, the European Union are considering the 63 to 70 range. Very similar, done very independently, obviously, of our announcement today. So, it's consistent, given the impact that new technological development can have, that you would have a range. We hope to achieve as low emissions as possible, whilst making sure that we continue to grow the economy, grow jobs, seize the opportunities which are there. On the other question, I'll allow the Minister.

MINISTER BOWEN: Thanks, PM. Look, it's very clear that we have set a target which is based on the science and the objective of 1.5 degrees. That's what we are required to do under law, and that's what the CCA is required under law to consider and advise us on. And as I said before, the CCA considered it and said you should go for maximum ambition and then looked at what's achievable in our context in Australia. And that maximum ambition is exactly 62 to 70. And the 62 to 70 range reflects two things, I think. It reflects that technologies do change over a decade in ways that not everyone can easily predict 10 years out. And we recognise that. The cost of some things will go down, the cost of some things will get harder. Solar and batteries, costs have fallen dramatically. Green hydrogen is facing international headwinds. All that will change over the next decade. And we don't pretend that we can predict every single movement over the next decade.

But also, it reflects this. This is a whole country effort. We hold many levers in the Federal Government, and we're pushing those levers. But it's a whole country effort. So, if the states and territories continue to lean in, if local government continues to lean in, if industries, if households continue to install a thousand batteries a day and take up EVs at high rates, then we can certainly do our best as a country. But we're not going to pretend that some sort of figure over 70 with no evidence, with no modelling, with no advice that's achievable, is a sensible ambition for this country to go after. Now, the IPCC, in their report about what was necessary, said 68 per cent around the world emissions reduction on 2005 levels. That's within our range. So, we've taken into account all of these factors. This is ambitious and achievable, sensible and serious. It is a target that has been very carefully calibrated and is one that is very well compared with likeminded and similar economies around the world.

JOURNALIST: I believe the CCA has previously said, that even to reach the lower end of this range, 50 per cent of new cars bought between now and 2035 will need to be EVs. Is the $40 million enough to get one in two new cars to be EVs and will you introduce more incentives?

MINISTER BOWEN: We don't have an EV sales target, we never have as a country. We want Australians to have more choices and our new Vehicle Efficiency Standard is driving that very well. We haven't even really seen that have any impact yet. But the number of EVs that will be available to Australians over the next 12 months is about to explode. You're going to see much more choice for Australians as importers respond to the new Vehicle Efficiency Standards. And the other thing that's held people back is a lack of charging. So, we're not the only ones investing in charging. The private sector is, state governments are, electricity companies are. This is designed to make a contribution because we want Australians, when they're thinking about their next car, to not be worried about where the charger is, to have that sorted and then they can make their own choices, their own decisions based on what car is good for them.

JOURNALIST: So, I'll ask two questions, since some others did. Just following on, on the range, does it give business the certainty they need to have such a big range, and does it give other countries the certainty? And the second question is, the Climate Change Authority's draft range, as we all know, was 65 to 75. So, why did Treasury only model the lowest point of that? And if you're talking about that upside of not scrambling with the disorderly transition, then could there have been more upside in that higher ambition model?

MINISTER BOWEN: Business groups will respond. I'm not here to speak for business groups, but I think a range of this order is investable as well as being achievable and ambitious. It provides the guidance to business as to what we think is achievable, and I think, I'm very confident business will lean in and help.

TREASURER: We've done a lot of work on this target that we're announcing today, and the Treasury has done a lot of modelling. There's been a lot of consultation, including with the business community. And that's because one of the main reasons we are providing this target today and releasing all of this modelling today, is because we want investors to be able to invest with confidence. And that's what these targets are all about. And overwhelmingly, the advice from around the world and from around our country, from the business community and the investor community, is if you want us to invest, you need to tell us where we're headed on the road to Net Zero, and that's what an orderly transition is all about. And what unites your question with the question from your colleague earlier on, is if you look at these new policies that we're announcing yesterday, Chris and I, in Brisbane, and today, when it comes to the CEFC and the Net Zero stream of the National Reconstruction Fund, the overwhelming theme and priority of these investments is to leverage more private investment. Overwhelmingly, private investment will be the thing that helps us achieve these ambitious targets and get us closer to the 70 end than to the 62 end. And so, our priority, recognising our fiscal constraints, is to leverage as much private investment as we can. And that's what this is all about.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, thank you so much. We had Mr Kean say that he didn't consider a target over 70 per cent because he had to evaluate the impacts to the economy. And we had the Treasury forecast modelling that says the baseline is $2.2 trillion bigger, the economy by 2050. What is the total cost of Net Zero by 2050? And what impact will Australia's emission cuts have on the climate, given that global emissions continue to rise?

TREASURER: There are two kinds of costs. First of all, the economic costs of a disorderly transition, and that's what the Treasury modelling sets out. And the second kind of cost is the total level of investment that we want to see some public, but overwhelmingly private, in our economy in order to hit these targets. The Business Council and others have put numbers on the total amount of investment necessary, depending on the scenario, I think from memory, between $400 and $500 billion over the next decade or so, which is a significant but not an overwhelming amount of private sector investment. And so, there are two kinds of costs. But the primary conclusion from this Treasury modelling is if you compare the baseline with the disorderly transition, if we were not serious about hitting these targets, if Australia went through a disorderly transition, it would cost our economy, it would cost jobs, it would mean lower wages and living standards, and it would mean higher power prices as well. These are the conclusions of the Treasury modelling. And to go back to the question asked by your colleague a moment ago, the reason why the Treasury models are 65 is because this work had to begin early enough that it could inform the deliberations of the Cabinet. The CCA advice, as I understand it, was received on Friday, and so we needed to do the work. And so, we made sure that the 65 that is modelled was within the draft range that Matt and his team were consulting on. You can't model every single scenario. These are resource intensive tasks. And so 65 was an appropriate level to model. It's within our 62 to 70 range. The difference between 65 and 62 or 68 in terms of modelling is not the most important thing. The most important thing is the difference between the orderly transition that we will deliver as a country and as a government, and the disorderly transition which is being urged by our political opponents, and others.

PRIME MINISTER: If people yell, you won't get – we're doing this orderly, just like the way the government runs, okay. So everyone's getting a fair crack. I make this point about international comparisons as well, because we'll hear from the Coalition, well, often the sceptics will say, ‘oh well, the rest of the world isn't acting, therefore Australia shouldn't do anything’. Just one fun fact from the Global Energy Monitor: the amount of wind and solar power under construction in China is now nearly twice as much as the rest of the world combined. Just a fun fact there. We are part of what is a global transformation that is occurring. We need to do our part. But of course, we know that the world has to act as well.

JOURNALIST: Just on that bracket, are you – will policies aim to reach 62 per cent, peaking higher being an aspiration, or are you aiming for 70 and committed to 70?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, we have a target range. It depends upon, as we've outlined, whether there's a leaning by other levels of government, by the private sector as well, industry. So, we know that the Federal Government can only do so much. But what we indicate is that Australians know, just as the challenge here in a household, if you like, is how do you have the capital upfront expenditure to put a solar panel on your roof or to install a battery? Why do households do that? There's an upfront cost, but there's a benefit because it reduces their power bills, which is why we're seeing a thousand, a thousand batteries installed every weekday. Just here.

JOURNALIST: Thank you. This question on behalf of my colleague Katina Curtis. She points out that the graph of your target trajectory suggests we could reach Net Zero by 2045 just by adopting the 62 per cent target. Do you see this as desirable?

PRIME MINISTER: There's a few graphs in documents, so you're quoting –

JOURNALIST: Well, I guess Katina's asking, looks like you can make Net Zero by 2045?

MINISTER BOWEN: Well, I should say 2050 is ambitious. We're committed to it. It's going to be hard work, but we believe the country can get it done. And more than 80 per cent of the world's GDP is covered by Net Zero commitments. Of course, we're trying to decarbonise as quickly as we can, but our policy, our target is net zero by 2050.

PRIME MINISTER: Just at the back there.

JOURNALIST: Thank you. You say this will put downward pressure on energy prices. By what exact figure will they drop?

PRIME MINISTER: You yourself laughed when you asked that question. So, it should be treated in the way, in the spirit in which you've done. What we know is if we don't act, there will be a cost to the economy, as the Treasurer has outlined. There'll be lower wages, lower growth, less jobs. And we know that it is in Australia's interest to have an orderly transition. That is what we intend to do.