Tony Abbott has hinted he will vote against his own government's national energy guarantee but Malcolm Turnbull says his party is overwhelmingly behind the policy.
The former prime minister has been trying to undermine the current prime minister's energy policy, because he says it focuses too much on reducing pollution.
But Mr Turnbull said the national energy guarantee has enormous support across industries and in parliament.
"The National Farmers Federation support it, the manufacturers support it," Mr Turnbull told ABC radio on Friday.
"The national energy guarantee has the strong support, the overwhelming support of the party room. But most importantly it has the strong support of the community."
Mr Abbott argued against the policy in the coalition party room on Tuesday, and publicly said backbenchers would consider crossing the floor to vote against it.
He wants the government to build a new coal-fired power station, and focus more on power reliability.
The government has been under pressure to come up with a solution to rising power prices due to retailers price-gouging, generators gold-plating their network and the sudden shutdown of the Hazelwood coal-fired power station.
The coalition's policy is "technology neutral", meaning it does not subsidise any particular form of generation, while requiring generators to deliver affordable and reliable power that meets emissions targets.
"The national energy guarantee is the best game in town at the moment," National Farmers Federation boss Fiona Simson told ABC radio.
"We want affordable, reliable, secure energy supply.
"We can see value in renewable energies, particularly in rural and regional areas, on farms. We don't want this issue politicised."
Share
