Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

One of their favourite tactics has been to be misleading about electricity price increases and attribute the increases to the carbon price when in fact they go to other factors—overinvestment in poles and wires principally by state governments that are withdrawing huge dividends from those organisations at a cost to businesses and households in those states. But of course that is never, ever acknowledged by those opposite, because it is too inconvenient for their political purposes.

But we all know that this scare campaign has hit the wall—we know that. We know it is running out of steam. We see the end of the campaign in the House, but it has run out of steam out there because those people out there living in the community are on to you. They understand that electricity price increases have principally been caused by other factors rather than by the carbon price.

But also we have today this commentary from the Reserve Bank in the Reserve Bank minutes. It makes this point:

Liaison suggested that the introduction of the carbon price had not yet had a significant effect on downstream price pressures—

See this speech in context