Political agreement on emissions policy unlikely, competition watchdog says

ACCC chairman Rod Sims says energy policy can still be made without political agreement on emissions

The chairman of Australia's competition watchdog, Rod Sims, has warned it is foolish to wait for political agreement on emissions reduction before formulating an energy policy, because Australia's political parties have now demonstrated they have irreconcilable differences.

In remarks referencing the tortuous debate over the national energy guarantee and the preceding decade, the ACCC chairman told a conference on Thursday the only way to get progress was to separate the objectives of emissions reduction, reliability and affordability.