Ian Macfarlane (Groom, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Energy and Resources) Share this | Hansard source

In amongst the chaos coming from the other side, I am going to persist with the point that the Labor Party is now saying to small business in remote areas that they need to pay triple, if not quadruple, the price of electricity that people have to pay in the inner-city Adelaide suburbs that the member for Wakefield tends to talk exclusively about. People in regional and remote Australia are part of the wealth production of Australia. You cannot say, 'If you live in the city, you're a better wealth producer than if you live in the country.' I would suggest that the member for Wakefield, when he goes up to Coober Pedy, calls in on Olympic Dam on the way back and sees how much wealth is produced there. I suspect it is a little bit more than he gives them credit for.

The insidious nature of electricity price rises lies in the fact that there is very little that people can do to avoid using electricity. Those opposite suggest that people just turn off the lights, save electricity and be more efficient. But I suggest that the prices for electricity that people in remote areas are already paying means that they are exceptionally efficient with electricity; they do not leave extra lights on. The next thing those opposite will be saying is that those people should turn their air conditioners off, but I am sure that when the member for Wakefield takes up the member for Grey's invitation and travels up there on a moderately warm day of around 45 degrees he will be tonguing to walk into a room where the air conditioning is switched on. I suggest that the owners of that room put a little coin slot in the door so that the member for Wakefield can pay his share of what he thinks is fair to charge people in regional areas for electricity.

It is worth noting that in Western Australia the state government provides a subsidy to remote customers of around 20c per kilowatt hour. Even the Labor governments in Queensland, the Northern Territory and Tasmania see the value in doing this. I commend this motion to the House. (Time expired)

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