Senior Labor cabinet minister Tom Koutsantonis has praised the passion and independent spirit shown by Liberal Member for MacKillop Nick McBride.

In a recent speech to the House of Assembly, Mr McBride argued that renewable energy was an expensive form of energy and electricity bills were already rising for businesses and households.

In reply, Mr Koutsantonis said he did not fully agree with Mr McBride’s stance.

“We are not debating the cost of living, although I accept it is an important issue, and I applaud the passion with which the member for MacKillop has argued on behalf of his constituents,” he said.

“I just say to the Member for MacKillop: I understand his passion, I understand his concern, and he is probably one of the few rare members in this house who takes up the true meaning of the word ‘liberal’, which means it gives him the ability and opportunity to speak freely about the things that matter to him – probably the only one who exercises that right; the rest behave like a lot of Labor MPs, using solidarity and basically caucus rules applying a discipline on them.

“The Member for MacKillop, whose father or grandfather I understand was one of the founding members of the modern Liberal Party, has kept that culture in place, whereas I suppose other members are more inclined to toe the party line.

“On that basis, I applaud him.”