The Morrison government is set to introduce it's 'big stick' energy company divestiture laws to parliament this sitting fortnight.
In a bid to shake-up the sector, Energy Minister Angus Taylor has threatened that the government could set up a competitor in Queensland if Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk refuses to break up state-owned electricity generation assets.
Mr Taylor's interventionist stance comes as Labor this week announced it's energy plan which he said would reward "big energy companies, the same ones charging families the bills they are struggling to pay."
Speaking in Adelaide on Saturday, Labor's climate change and energy spokesman, Mark Butler dismissed Mr Taylor's claims, arguing instead that "consumers are the winners" in ALP's energy policy .
"The big energy companies, as I understand it, are not providing batteries to households," Mr Butler said.
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He described Mr Taylor's comments about the Clean Energy Finance Corporation as "an extraordinary attack" on "his own government agency".
"Business wants Scott Morrison to return to work with Labor on the National Energy Guarantee and bring this energy crisis to an end," Mr Butler said.
Ahead of introducing laws to break up power companies, Mr Taylor on Saturday said "Labor needs to decide whether they sit with us in holding those energy companies to account or whether they sit with those big energy companies."
The big three retailers - AGL Energy, Origin Energy and Energy Australia - have apparently consulted lawyers, while AGL warned that government intervention would drive up power bills, deter large-scale investment, and undermine shareholder value.
