Abbott says crossing the floor on energy guarantee 'not a mortal sin'

The former prime minister has left the door open to voting against his party to oppose its signature energy policy.

Tony Abbott has again criticised the Coalition’s National Energy Guarantee policy. Source: AAP

Tony Abbott has again criticised the Coalition’s National Energy Guarantee policy ahead of a make-or-break meeting later this week.

Asked repeatedly whether he would cross the floor of Parliament and oppose the NEG, Mr Abbott kept his options open.

“In the Liberal tradition, it’s not a mortal sin to cross the floor if you feel strongly enough,” Mr Abbott told Sky News on Wednesday evening.

“Let’s face it, Malcolm Turnbull crossed the floor on an energy policy issue.”

Mr Turnbull voted with Labor on its Emissions Trading Scheme in 2010 when he was a Liberal backbencher.

Mr Abbott and several other Coalition backbenchers are mounting a strong campaign for more coal-fired power in Australia’s energy mix.

“It gets the priorities absolutely upside down and that’s why I have got enormous difficulties supporting it,” he told Sky News.

Earlier today, Mr Turnbull deliberately kept the door open to new coal-fired power in Australia, as recommended by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

“It [the NEG] is technology agnostic and so it would benefit anything that was dispatchable [power],” Mr Turnbull told reporters in Alice Springs.

“It could be hydro, it could be gas, it could be, you know, renewables backed by hydro or gas or batteries, it could be gas alone, it could be coal.”

Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg will meet with his state and territory counterparts on Friday to secure final agreement on the NEG, before taking it back to the Coalition party room.