Barnaby Joyce says investing in coal is all about getting “affordable” power for poor Australians as the prospect of a new plant fuels tensions in the Coalition.
Debate about coal has caused division in the Coalition since Mr Joyce's failed leadership tilt last week, with his supporters pushing for a greater focus on coal, while moderate Liberals want stronger action on climate change.
On Sunday, the federal government announced $6 million will be put towards two feasibility studies for new electricity generation projects, including a coal fired-power plant at Collinsville in north Queensland - something Queensland Nationals have been calling for.
Mr Joyce declared on Sunday he does not have a "religious attachment" to coal, but says the fossil fuel should not be excluded from Australia's power mix.
“I have a religious attachment that the poor people can get affordable power, and that we can get dignity in people’s lives,” Mr Joyce told reporters in Darwin.
Mr Joyce believes the feasibility study into the Collinsville plant would prove its viability.
Barnaby Joyce during Question Time in the House of Representatives at Parliament House in Canberra. Source: AAP
"It's either that it stacks up, or we'll have to go and inform the Chinese, and the Indians, and the Japanese, and people in Europe and across the world that they're stupid, and we're smart," he said.
"Because they're building high-efficiency, low-emission coal-fired power plants, and apparently we're the one country that although we want to export the product, we won't use it ourselves."
Mr Joyce said renewable energy projects received significant government subsidies, which placed coal projects at a disadvantage.
"You have to be honest and say lets compare apples with apples," he said.
Nationals backbenchers are becoming increasingly vocal about the need for more support for the coal industry.
Senator Canavan described renewable energy providers as dole bludgers.
"Renewables are the dole bludgers of the energy system, they only turn up to work when they want to," he wrote in an opinion piece for the The Courier-Mail.
Nationals MP Michelle Landry said Australia needed cheap, reliable power for the manufacturing sector.
"That's what this (strategy) is about," Ms Landry told reporters.
"What does annoy me is that there are people in Melbourne who are dead against coal, but where does their power come from?"
Joyce backer quits LNP
The fallout from Mr Joyce's failed leadership bid continues, with Queensland MP Llew O'Brien, who moved the spill motion, quitting the Nationals.
Mr O'Brien told Prime Minister Scott Morrison of his decision to quit the Nationals on Sunday night, but remain a member of the Coalition.
In Queensland, the Liberal and National parties are merged, unlike any other state or territory.
Mr Joyce said it was up to Mr O'Brien to explain whether his support for the failed leadership spill prompted his resignation.
Llew O'Brien reacts at Parliament House in Canberra. Source: AAP
"It's incredibly sad ... we want to keep him in the team," he told reporters.
"People can read it any way they want."
Mr Joyce described the Queensland ex-cop as a "good fellow and a good mate" who brought years of experience to the party.
He said he was disappointed the party hadn't selected a "balanced" ministry after the spill.
"I've said my piece. There was a spill, I stood, I lost," Mr Joyce said.
With AAP
