CANBERRA, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- The Australian government will not scrap its renewable energy targets (RETs) despite criticism from former Prime Minister Tony Abbott, the Education Minister Simon Birmingham said on Monday.
Abbott, who was ousted by Malcolm Turnbull in September, 2015, has voiced concerns that the government is "losing touch" with its traditional voters by keeping its current renewable energy targets.
But Birmingham, speaking to Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) radio on Monday, said the government was committed to doing its bit to reduce the effects of climate change. He said the government's 23 percent target was reasonable compared to the opposition's plans for a 50 percent target.
"We have no plans to change it and the real focus of the debate around the RETs shouldn't be our 23 percent target by 2020, it should be how (Opposition Leader) Bill Shorten is going to actually address the 50 percent target the Labor Party announced, what on earth that will cost, how on earth it will be implemented," Birmingham said.
On Sunday, Abbott said the Turnbull government must scrap the RETs or 'face the fury' of disgruntled Liberal voters. He predicted that the added public cost to achieve the renewable energy targets would not be welcomed.
"Our own policy is to lift renewable power from 15 percent to 23 percent within four years at the cost of 750 U.S dollars per household," Abbott told a Young Liberals conference in Adelaide on Sunday.
"This is where the public are not mugs. This is why our first big fight this year must be to stop any further mandatory use of renewable power."
Abbott's comments come after it was revealed newly-inaugurated U.S President Donald Trump was considering scrapping his own nation's RETs and withdrawing from the Paris climate change agreement.
Also on Monday, Birmingham rejected Abbott's claims the Turnbull government was stagnating; the Education Minister said Parliament had been "getting a lot done" since the government was re-elected in July last year.
"Of course in the last few months of last year we managed to get through significant pieces of legislation that had been stalled or delayed in the previous parliament: the Australian Building and Construction Commission, the Registered Organisations (bill), tax cuts for hardworking middle income Australians, changes to support volunteer firefighters, significant budget savings through our omnibus savings bill," Birmingham said.
"I think the Turnbull government's getting a lot done, we have a lot on our agenda, and we're going to keep working hard and implementing it."
Meanwhile government backbencher John Alexander has said the Parliament needed a shift from its current 'adversarial' nature to be one which is more complimentary of good policies in order to 'get more done' for the Australian people.
He said it was often the case that policy was howled down by the opposing party purely because it was easier than agreeing on "positive ideas".
"I think we need a contest of positive ideas to find vision and to find better policies," Alexander said.
"As soon as somebody comes up with an idea and puts it out, it's a targeted attack, and that constricts the development of great policy and I'd like to see a more positive attitude."
