LAURA JAYES: Tomorrow, Labor leader Bill Shorten will unveil more details of energy policy going into the election, so there will be a sharper focus if that is at all possible. So, let's bring in the Energy Minister Angus Taylor. Angus Taylor, thank you for your time. If Labor does adopt the National Energy Guarantee framework, what will your position be? Can you credibly criticise it, given your Government was the architect of it?

ANGUS TAYLOR: Laura, I'm not going to speculate on their policy but the one thing that's very clear in their policy, they've already enunciated, is that they're going to have a 45 per cent emission reduction target and a 50 per cent renewable energy target - and the one thing that I know about a target like that is Australians will pay more for their electricity and you won't be able to trust Bill Shorten to keep the lights on. That's very clear.

They've got some tough questions to answer in this - which aluminium smelters and refineries are going to shut? Which cement factories are going to shut? How many head of cattle have got to go? Because the truth is, Laura, to reach that kind of target you've got to put a wrecking ball through the economy - you have to take the axe to our manufacturing sector, to our smelters, to our refineries, to jobs right through regional Australia. Labor is going to have to explain that to the Australian people, that will be a wrecking ball.

Our policies are sensible, they're balanced, and most of all they're focused on getting electricity prices down while we keep the lights on, and we're seeing dividends. Our pressure has already delivered a 10 per cent price reduction for AGL customers on standing offers. We congratulate AGL for that, we need the others to follow suit but we're already seeing great results from the work we're doing.

KIERAN GILBERT: Just on Laura's question in terms of the mechanism, I know you want to focus on the targets but the mechanism is important as well, as recently as said by Jennifer Westacott from the BCA this week, if Labor backs the National Electricity Guarantee, which you argued for up until just a few months ago, how can you bag it?

ANGUS TAYLOR: I'm bagging the targets, Kieran. I am bagging - look, what matters at the end of the day - I've been involved in this area of policy for decades now, Kieran - the target drives everything. If you pick a 45 per cent emissions reduction target, you have got to work out which part of the economy you're slashing, which jobs you're slashing, which factories you're slashing, you've got to explain that. This is the great challenge for Bill Shorten in explaining his energy policy - which jobs, which industries, which factories, which ones are going to go? I mean, you've got to explain to farmers how you're going to deal with cattle - how many head of cattle have got to go? These are very tough questions for the Labor Party if they're going to have a target like this. It's the target that does the work. You can pick any mechanism you like, you've still got to slash a big slice of the economy, particularly our economy because we're export focused, we have these wonderful export industries that are very efficient in global terms, in terms of emissions, they're going to have to take the axe to them, Kieran. They are very tough questions that Labor's going to have to answer here.

LAURA JAYES: Minister, some of the states have pretty high targets anyway, so how much cheaper, given the targets, will power bills be under the Government, under the Coalition Government, compared to Labor with these duelling policies?

ANGUS TAYLOR: The Climate Change Authority looked at this back in 2013, at a similar sort of target to what Labor's talking about, and it came out with a carbon price of $135. Put that in perspective - that's five times higher than Labor's previous carbon tax. That will have a massive impact on electricity prices, but it will go beyond that. It will extend into slashing sectors that are emissions intensive; our biggest export sectors like agriculture, like resources, like our manufacturing sectors. These are very, very serious issues for the Australian economy. We stand for a stronger economy, everything we're doing now - cutting taxes, ensuring we don't take a hammer to the housing market like Labor is - it's all about a stronger economy more jobs, rising more wages, that's what we want to see. Labor clearly want the opposite and they're going to have to explain in their energy policy why we're not going to get the opposite. Because I know the outcome of this, if you have a target like that you will put a wrecking ball through the economy.

KIERAN GILBERT: Paul Kelly writes in the paper today - in The Australian - that the initiative for the Government to underwrite new low cost generation stable power is, the consultation period has closed and you've got various policies from gas, coal and hydro put to you for this initiative. When will we have the outcome as to what you're going to back - coal, gas or hydro or a combination of all of the above?

ANGUS TAYLOR: We've said that we'll have a short list of projects by the first part of next year, Kieran. The critical point here is we need more supply of 24/7 power, reliable power that can keep the lights on and keep prices down in the system as quickly as possible. Short list of projects in the first part of next year and that will ensure that we can deliver to both businesses that employ so many Australians, as well as hard working small business people and families around Australia to keep electricity prices down. We're already seeing the dividends of our policies in this drive to drive down electricity prices. I said earlier AGL, 10 per cent price cut in New South Wales and Victoria for standing offer customers - that's a fantastic start in this direction. More supply though, is crucial. More supply is crucial.

KIERAN GILBERT: Sure, but on the broader policy Malcolm Turnbull said you can't come up with, the Liberals can't agree on a climate and energy policy because you still have a cohort that doesn't believe climate change is real. What do you say to him on that and are you worried that he might make further interventions in the lead up to the election, particularly if Labor backs a policy which he had wanted to introduce as prime minister?

ANGUS TAYLOR: I'm very confident that my colleagues are supportive of the policies we have to drive down electricity prices, keep the lights on and meet our emissions reductions targets which we - look, our track record on this is second to none in the world, Kieran. We have delivered on Kyoto 1, we've delivered on Kyoto 2, we know we'll deliver on our 2030 obligations. Our track record speaks for itself. It's an extraordinary track record but the crucial thing now is to do that while we are pushing down electricity prices, putting more supply into the market and ensuring that the big energy companies do the right thing. What we're seeing with Labour now is they're siding with the big energy companies, this extraordinary turn of events here as they say, look, we're more interested in backing the big energy companies than we are backing small businesses and Australian families to get a better deal on their electricity bills.

KIERAN GILBERT: I need to ask you about one last issue in terms of the encrypted messaging. You were the minister responsible for that before you became the Energy Minister. Would you be comfortable, are you comfortable with the proposals as they stand, should they be expedited through the Parliament next week given the events of recent days in Melbourne?

ANGUS TAYLOR: I am comfortable, Kieran, because we've got to ensure that criminals, terrorists, paedophiles don't have anywhere to hide. Right now they're hiding behind encryption. I think these laws are balanced, they're sensible, they do get the balance right between personal privacy and security as well as national security and law enforcement. It's crucial we get this legislation through as quickly as possible, it's got to go through the appropriate parliamentary processes. What is absolutely essential now is that Labor works with us to get this through the Parliament as quickly as possible, and ensure that the very worst criminals out there - terrorists, paedophiles and so on, drug smugglers - are held to account, Kieran.

KIERAN GILBERT: Minister Taylor, thanks. Appreciate it.

ANGUS TAYLOR: Thank you.