Peter Dutton hits back at 'weak and rattled' Anthony Albanese after the PM's climate wars attack

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has rejected the Prime Minister's weekend attack that he's abandoning emissions targets in an exclusive interview with Daily Mail Australia.

'We are committed to the Paris climate agreement and we are the only party with a credible pathway to net zero by 2050', Mr Dutton told Daily Mail Australia.

That plan includes a yet to be released policy of embracing nuclear power - a form of energy used around the world but was recently panned by the CSIRO as not being viable in Australia.

'The difference between Mr Albanese and me is that I am not going to destroy the economy and send families bankrupt in the process', Mr Dutton claimed.

The Opposition Leader zeroed in on rising cost-of-living pressures, in particular energy prices.

'Tellingly when the PM is talking about targets he never mentions electricity costs. That's because they are going to go through the roof with a renewables only policy', Mr Dutton said.

As Mr Albanese ponders an early election before summer, Mr Dutton also questioned the ability of renewable energy to meet peak demand times.

'As the energy regulator says - there's an increasing likelihood of blackouts under the Albanese Government's policies,' he said.

The spat over emissions targets came as the PM accused the Opposition of walking away from the Paris Agreement.

'Peter Dutton is walking away from climate action,' Mr Albanese said on the weekend. 

'His decision to abandon the 2030 target means he is walking away from the Paris Accord. 

'If you walk away from the Paris Accord, you'll be standing with Libya, Yemen and Iran, and against all of our major trading partners, and all of our important allies.

'You can't shape the future if you're afraid of it, and Peter Dutton is afraid of the future, and he's incapable of leading Australia towards the future that we need.'

 The Paris Agreement includes a 45 per cent emissions reduction target by 2030 and the goal of net zero emissions by 2050. The Coalition has committed to the latter.

Experts warn that Australia's chances of reaching the 2030 target are fading. Grattan Institute Energy Director Tony Wood recently said that 'it's looking fairly tough for the government to achieve that (2030) target'.

'Instead of trying to impress world leaders it's about time Mr Albanese started focusing on Australians,' Mr Dutton told Daily Mail Australia.

The Opposition Leader also took aim at the PM's lack of toughness, feeding into a narrative that Mr Dutton is the alpha prime ministerial candidate while Mr Albanese is a beta personality.

'The PM looks weak and rattled', Mr Dutton said. 

'The Albanese Government is more than two years old but feels and looks like it's 22 years old.'

Mr Dutton argued that a pattern of failure is developing the longer Albanese's time in power goes on.

'Outside of the Voice Mr Albanese has no agenda. The Budget sank like a stone and the economy is tanking on his watch and families and small businesses are hurting,' he said. 

Last week's GDP numbers revealed that growth for the quarter had slowed to just 0.1 per cent, and an annual rate of just 1.1 per cent, the lowest in nearly 40 years outside of the pandemic.