Former Liberal leader John Hewson says uncertainty about the renewable energy target is a political barnacle waiting to be removed.
The government wants to slash the target of 41,000 gigawatt hours to around 27,000, which it claims would represent 27 per cent of energy use by 2020.
But with Prime Minister Tony Abbott looking to scrape off "one or two barnacles" by the year's end, Dr Hewson said the government should abandon its bid to scale back the RET.
"The prime minister is arguing today that he wants to eliminate some barnacles by Christmas," he told reporters at a clean energy summit in Adelaide.
"This is one of them. It's a fight he doesn't need to have, given the other issues that he's got in the forthcoming MYEFO (Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook).
"There's enough for him to do in there, so I would surprise everyone and honour a pre-election commitment."
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