Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for his question. First, I thank him for his frank acknowledgement that electricity prices have been going up and that that is nothing to do with carbon pricing. Often in this place we hear a great distortion about what is happening with electricity prices, with members of the opposition coming into this place and trying to pretend that the electricity price rises Australian families have sustained have somehow been caused by carbon pricing. Yes, electricity has risen. It has risen for a number of reasons. It has risen partic­ularly because there is a need for more investment in electricity, including in electricity distribution. That investment is costly and it has been flowing through to electricity prices. And Australians have not got direct assistance to help them with the cost of that rising electricity. Now to the member I would say: people, I do believe, look at electricity prices. If they can receive good information about how to reduce their energy consumption whilst still doing the things that they need to do in their daily lives and still enjoying all the creature comforts that we are used to and want to keep, I believe people will respond to that inform­ation. There are a number of relatively simple things people can do to reduce their electricity consumption and to reduce their carbon pollution, and I believe that many Australians are motivated to do that and that with the better provision of information many more Australians will do that. On the question of carbon pricing and electricity, what I can say to the member is, yes, we have always said that when we were putting a price on carbon pollution to be paid by the biggest 500 polluters in this country—

See this speech in context