PADDY GERRARD: Look, yesterday, our Prime Minister confirmed his Government would formally commit to net zero emissions by 2050.

ROB PALMER: Phew.

PADDY GERRARD: Something needs to be done. To find out what is in the plan we've got Federal Energy Minister, Angus Taylor, on net zero. I'm sure they would have called him Gus at school. G’day, Angus.

ROB PALMER: G’day, Gus.

ANGUS TAYLOR: G’day, Paddy and Rob. How are you? You're quite right about that.

ROB PALMER: Yeah. Lovely. Gus and barbecues.

PADDY GERRARD: Gus. Is that where they, is that what they call you, Angus?

ANGUS TAYLOR: They do. Occasionally my wife does when she's happy with me.

PADDY GERRARD: Normally it's Angus. Now, Angus…

ROB PALMER: Look, we're all going to be driving cars around and no one can see themselves chucking their car into the tip, and that is responsible for, I don't know how much emissions. The whole lifestyle and livelihoods in this country, do they need to change dramatically to achieve net zero?

ANGUS TAYLOR: Well, look, it needs to be done in a way which is evolutionary and sensible. People will buy electric vehicles over time. They're buying hybrids, we're seeing many more of them on the road than we, were even a few short years ago, and that brings emissions down but the whole point about this plan is we're leaving it for people to choose, and they will choose lower emissions alternatives as those costs come down. Our policy is all about bringing the cost of those low emissions technologies down over time, and as they do people will choose them. That's a sensible way forward. We describe it as the Australian way which is not telling someone what kind of car to drive, or what kind of food to eat, or what kind of electricity to use - they will adopt the lower emissions options as the costs come down. We're seeing that now, Paddy and Rob. One in four houses in Australia with solar on the roofs, that's the highest rate in the world. Australians love technology if it works for them and solves a problem for them and that's exactly how we see it. 

PADDY GERRARD: Angus, I was reading a few of the stories this morning, they're saying concerns about the zero emissions by 2050, saying the modelling which supports, supports the plan will not be released until a later unspecified date. Why is that so?

ANGUS TAYLOR: Well, the outcomes of the modelling are put in the document. It's a 120-page document so it's true, the critics came out before they'd even read the first page, because that's what they do. 

PADDY GERRARD: Yeah.

ANGUS TAYLOR: But, you know, we've laid out the outcomes of the modelling and what it shows very clearly is we've got priority technologies we're investing in heavily, $20 billion of investment, which can get us to net zero, that can support out traditional industries like heavy manufacturing, mining, agriculture, and that we can create jobs. We have to do it in a sensible way. We have to make carefully targeted investments that we're making and we have to respect and trust the Australian people will adopt those technologies as the costs come down. We know they do and that's how we see it.

PADDY GERRARD: They say that Australia, you know, has one of the highest rates of emissions per head of capita in the world, and I reckon if a large part of that is our primary industries, and a lot of what we mine out of the ground goes to countries like China, how do we stop giving China as much as we are? How do we reduce our per head of capita emissions if we're still exporting all this stuff overseas?

ANGUS TAYLOR: Well, our emissions are coming down faster than most countries - they're down almost 21 per cent since 2005, and that's better than countries like New Zealand and Canada, who are big commodity exporters like us but you're right. Forty per cent of our emissions are for exports and those exports reduce emissions in those customer countries. So when the Japanese buy gas from us, for instance, that's going to reduce their emissions versus alternatives. So cutting those things off would be crazy. Doesn't help. Doesn't solve the problem.  So we'll continue to serve our customers but those customers in Japan and Korea and elsewhere are going to want, and they do want, a lower emissions product over time, and so we have to adapt. So producing hydrogen and ammonia which can used in coal and gas fired generators in Japan and Korea, it's a priority for the Government. We're investing heavily in it making sure we can position ourselves to capture those markets as they change. 

PADDY GERRARD: Angus, former Prime Minister, Bob Hawke, said by 1990 no Australian child will be living in poverty.

ROB PALMER: That old chestnut.

PADDY GERRARD: That old chestnut. Can we really achieve it by 2050, net zero emissions?

ANGUS TAYLOR: Well, we can if we invest in the technologies and trust Australians to make the right choices, which they will do. You know, that's the way forward. It's already working for us. I like to tell the story that solar, 30 years ago there was almost no uptake. Ninety per cent of the solar that's been installed in the world is in the last ten years and it's happened because the costs have been coming down 12 per cent a year for 50 years - 50 years, get that 12 per cent a year, every year. That's why, now, you look around and it's on the roofs everywhere. That's exactly how we see other technologies that are emerging - storage technologies; we're investing heavily in Snowy 2, of course, in New South Wales; hydrogen, I've already talked about, carbon capture storage and soil carbon, regenerating our soils with our farmers - big opportunities for us to reduce our emissions - low emission steel and aluminium, hugely important. So these are the technologies that can continue to drive down emissions, and Australians will choose those technologies as it makes sense for them. 

PADDY GERRARD: Federal Energy Minister, Angus Taylor, on talking net zero. 

ROB PALMER: Gus.

PADDY GERRARD: By the way too, Gus. If there was one politician you wouldn't like to spend on a deserted island for a week, who would it be?

ANGUS TAYLOR: I reckon Albo and I would have a tough time for a week there.

ROB PALMER: That was an easy question.

PADDY GERRARD: Okay, fair enough. 

ROB PALMER: He's a Rabbitohs supporter for starters. 

ANGUS TAYLOR: Good point.

PADDY GERRARD:  Okay. Thank you, Gus. Thank you very much for joining this morning, talking about the end of all this.

ANGUS TAYLOR:  Good on you. Thanks for having me.