Labor has described Prime Minister Tony Abbott as "the most unscientific" leader in Australia's recent history after he claimed the party's ambitious renewable energy goal would cost consumers $60 billion.
Mr Abbott said on Monday Labor's pledge to source half the nation's power from renewable sources by 2030 – a position backed by the party's national conference at the weekend - was "truly bizarre" and a "massive hit on consumers and jobs".
"[It] will mean a massive bill, perhaps $60 billion or more, that will have to be carried by the consumers of Australia," he said.
Asked later by Fairfax Media where Mr Abbott sourced that figure, a spokesman pointed to a report in The Australian last week.
That article quoted ACIL Allen chief executive Paul Hyslop, whose company carried out modelling for the government's recent review of the renewable energy target.
Mr Hyslop reportedly said Labor's goal, if met through wind power, would require up to "11,000 additional turbines … with capital costs for the turbines alone of $65 billion".
However, Mr Hyslop's estimate referred to capital costs, not consumer costs. It was also based on wind power alone, when Labor has said its goal would be achieved through a variety of policy mechanisms.
The government has criticised Labor for failing to release modelling on its renewable energy goal, and has demanded to know exactly how it will be achieved and what it will cost.
On Monday Mr Abbott said Labor's "massive and unnecessary commitment to renewables" would cause a "massive overbuild of wind farms".
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said Mr Abbott "makes up numbers to scare people".
"He has no evidence or science. In fact, he is the most unscientific PM Australia has had in a long time," he said.
"Anyone who expects Mr Abbott to change his spots and become someone who is going to take real action on climate change when he has spent his adult life being sceptical of it … is being overly optimistic."
Mr Abbott once famously said the settled science of climate change was "absolute crap", but later said he accepted the science.
Mr Shorten said solar technology was becoming cheaper by the day and advances in battery technology meant "Australians no longer have to take the prices that electricity companies give them".
Labor's environment spokesman Mark Butler said Mr Abbott's "scare campaign" was "reaching hysterical levels again".
Clean Energy Council chief executive Kane Thornton said that by 2030, Australia's energy system would contain a range of energy technologies, including wind, large-scale solar, wave and bio-energy.
