Jobs are there in renewables: Shorten

Bill Shorten believes there are many blue collar jobs in wind and solar but he may be backing away from his strong renewable energy target.

The Labor leader says a "proper renewable energy policy" will create jobs for Australians.

"There are real jobs, not just jobs for the scientists, but jobs for blue collar workers, jobs for engineers, jobs for designers," he told the National Press Club in Canberra on Tuesday.

But although he was specifically questioned on the cost of Labor's target to have half Australia's energy generated from renewables by 2030 - more than double the government's 2020 target - he would not say the 50 per cent figure.

Conservatives in the government, including former prime minister Tony Abbott, have been urging the government's leaders to attack Labor hard for this renewable energy target, which they claim will cost household power bills an extra $5000.

Mr Shorten said there was a bigger bill to be paid if Australia didn't embrace renewable energy.

"Let's have a look at the opportunity cost of not acting on climate change: more drought, more ... negative impact on our tourism industries, more extreme weather events," he said.

"If we don't take action on renewable energy, the costs will increase anyway, so let's ... not compare one proposition with a vacuum, because it's not going to be a vacuum if we do nothing."