Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott has labelled AGL’s decision not to sell the Liddell coal-fired power station a “strike against the national interest”.

The power giant rejected a bid from rival Alinta Energy, continuing its plan to shut Liddell within five years.

After careful consideration, the AGL board has decided not to proceed any further with the offer from Chow Tai Fook & Alinta to buy #Liddell. AGL will continue to progress its NSW Generation Plan as it is in the best interests of shareholders & customers https://t.co/Fje3nSzSZo

— AGL Energy (@aglenergy) May 20, 2018

Mr Abbott tells Ray Hadley the government needs to step in as AGL digs in.

“It’s in their narrow, commercial self-interest to get the price of power up because that pads their profit.

“Given that the federal government has effectively now got responsibility for energy security, the government should compulsorily acquire this power station for the price that Alinta were prepared to pay and then it should sell it to Alinta and they can operate it.”

The former PM maintains Australia should focus on coal, saying renewable energies may be free but they aren’t reliable.

“The sun doesn’t always shine and the wind doesn’t always blow.

“We should stop talking about renewables and start talking about unreliables.”

Mr Abbott also addressed rorting of the $22-billion National Disability Insurance Scheme, saying there needs to be “proper accountability”.

“There’s the pressure of compassion. We all want to be compassionate but unfortunately, we’re being compassionate here with taxpayers’ dollars and just how far can that go?”

Click PLAY below for the full interview with former Prime Minister Tony Abbott