Turnbull ditches legislation for 26% emissions cut to head off backbench dissent

Government to set target by regulation in move to defuse internal opposition - and court Labor

The Turnbull government is preparing to set the emissions reduction target for the national energy guarantee by regulation rather than legislation in a move to court Labor's support and defuse some internal tensions about enshrining the Paris climate commitments in Australian law.

The government is working up the regulatory option ahead of cabinet deliberations next week - as well as expediting a power price fix linked to the Neg, which will likely involve setting default pricing for electricity consumers and punitive measures to stop big energy companies extracting super profits from their customers.