Robert Oakeshott (Lyne, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

This is a bill that invites the parliament to end the greatest market failure in Australia today, a regulatory rort that has cost electricity consumers $3 billion since 2009. Of this $3 billion, $1.9 billion has been transferred from the pockets of New South Wales electricity consumers to the pocket of the state government—costing the average customer somewhere around $100 extra each year. This is not spending on new poles or wires or better reliability; it is just extra dividends alone to a state government. In my view, that definitely a rip-off and a rort.

The concept of gold plating came from my region. One resident, a Burrell Creek farmer, took on a local electricity company on this issue and was successful despite, on the way through, being challenged legally to prove his case. He did so, the state government tentacle backed off and the term 'gold plating' is now part of the language of public policy. Unfortunately, part of the mythology that we have a national electricity law that can be changed or altered by this parliament remains to be corrected. We cannot in this parliament at this moment do anything to amend the laws known as the national electricity law. This tries to address it. Currently, the national electricity law is what is known as a 'uniform' national law, but it is only so by virtue of the adoption of a South Australian act of parliament by all other state governments and territories. The National Electricity (South Australia) Act 1996 has been adopted by other states and territories forming what is known as the national electricity market. The purpose of this bill is to adopt, as far as practicable, the existing National Electricity Law and to make the National Electricity Law actually an act of the Commonwealth—one set of laws that can be amended by agreement to the benefit of all consumers rather than being blocked to the benefit of one state government.

This bill would incorporate as far as possible the existing Australian Energy Market Act 2004. The bill would adopt, in as far as possible, the Australian Energy Market Commission Establishment Act 2004, which is also a South Australian act, to make the commission a statutory body of the Commonwealth. I have brought this bill before the House because there is widespread consensus that the electricity sector has experienced a profound regulatory failure when it comes to network prices. Electricity network prices are determined by the Australian Energy Regulator under the National Electricity Rules subject to review by the Australian Competition Tribunal under the National Electricity Law.

The national electricity objective seeks to balance investment with price. But in recent years that balance has been utterly lost. In a further red herring, governments are failing to deliver the national electricity objective. Some state energy ministers are now blaming the Australian Energy Regulator despite detailed independent reviews that prove them wrong. This has been acknowledged in the Council of Australian Governments communique of 25 July 2012. It was acknowledged by the Prime Minister herself in a speech on 7 August. This issue has been picked up by the Liberal National Party. Wrongly, the Leader of the Opposition on 8 August 2012 was asked: do you think there has been gold plating of the wires and cables in some states? Effectively the response was: it is a federal government regulator. It is Julia Gillard's own regulator so if there is a problem it is her fault. That is wrong. That has been proven wrong by detailed independent reviews.

The Productivity Commission's report titled Electricity Network Regulatory Frameworks, which was released on 18 August, is one such example that I would encourage the opposition to consider when making further statements in this area. The key fact that we need to fix is that the National Electricity Law is a creature of state parliaments. State parliaments are reaping dividends from this market failure. We need to address it and get a uniform national set of laws. It is not a take over. It is trying to get a fair and balanced playing field in the interests of consumers, not in the interests of state governments.

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