Nearly 40,000 students took the day off school last Friday to participate in strikes around the country.

Mr Dutton said it was "100 per cent right" to suggest people would be left to sit in the dark if coal-fired power was stripped from the grid for 48 hours.

"Let the teachers tell their students that and go out on strike - but their mobile phones aren't being charged," he told 2GB radio on Thursday.

"This is how stupid the debate's gotten, it defies common sense."

Australian Associated Press