Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's new $1 billion energy fund is nothing more than a desperate attempt to differentiate himself from Tony Abbott, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten says.
Mr Turnbull on Wednesday announced a Clean Energy Innovation Fund would be set up in July, jointly managed by the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and Australian Renewable Energy Agency.
His predecessor, Mr Abbott, went to the 2013 election pledging to abolish both bodies.
Mr Shorten, who has been at lengths to stress Mr Turnbull's similarities with Mr Abbott, insisted Mr Turnbull's announcement was nothing more than a political ploy.
"What we see is Mr Turnbull scrambling with window dressing to pretend that he's not the same as Mr Abbott," Mr Shorten said.
He said Mr Turnbull's actions looked "panicky and jerky and unpredictable" because Environment Minister Greg Hunt stated on Monday the government had made "no change in the policy" to axe the CEFC.
"Today Mr Turnbull's under pressure because Tony Abbott's been out in the newspapers yesterday and said that the Turnbull government is really just the Abbott government with a new salesman," Mr Shorten said.
"Now Mr Turnbull's desperate to deal with the infighting."
Mr Shorten said if the government was seriously about climate change, it would have a market-based system, would prioritise renewable energy and would not go ahead with cuts to CSIRO.
The Labor leader said his party was committed to having renewables make up 50 per cent of the country's energy mix by 2030 and reduce carbon emissions to net zero by 2050.
Mr Turnbull said his new energy fund would boost innovation and create jobs beyond the mining boom.
Both CEFC and ARENA would manage the fund from July in order to finance projects like large-scale solar, he said.
