Greg Combet (Charlton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Chifley for his question. When the government announced its Clean Energy Future package last July, we released comprehensive modelling by Treasury on the impacts of carbon pricing. That modelling showed very clearly that the carbon price would add about 10 per cent to electricity prices, which is around $3.30 a week per household on average—and, of course, the government is delivering assistance to the extent of an average of $10.10 per household per week.

Price regulators in different jurisdictions are now confirming Treasury's modelling and showing a lesser impact in some states and territories than the modelling suggested. For example: in New South Wales, IPART, the independent price regulator, has issued a draft determination with a carbon price impact on the average household in New South Wales of $3.27 per week; Western Australia's regulator has found an impact around $2.45 week; in the Northern Territory it is around $2.48 a week; in Tasmania is around $3 a week. All these figures are under the Treasury-modelled cost impact.

The government's household assistance package will provide, as I indicated, an average of $10.10 per week per household. It will do this through permanent tax cuts—by trebling the tax-free threshold, which also releases one million taxpayers from having to file a tax return. It will also deliver it through permanent increases in the pension and through payments to many self-funded retirees. It will also deliver it through permanent increases in family tax benefits and many other Commonwealth payments. This is contrary to much of the commentary that we have heard from the Leader of the Opposition.

These are the facts: electricity prices are bang-on or a bit less than the Treasury modelling as the regulators bring in their determinations and the government is providing comprehensive assistance to households—it will reach nine out of 10 households—yet for the last 12 months the Leader of the Opposition has run around making false claims designed to engender fear that the carbon price will increase electricity prices by 20 per cent, 25 per cent or 30 per cent. That is specifically what he has claimed—just last week, the Leader of the Opposition went on a hysterical rant claiming that the carbon price will certainly force up electricity prices by 20 per cent. But, now that the facts are coming in, what they will show is that the Leader of the Opposition is nothing but a shallow political con man.

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