Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Minister for the Environment) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Corangamite, who is a great friend of the environment, whether it is the Queenscliff foreshore, whether it is the Barwon Coast Green Army or whether it is the Surf Coast solar town. She actually cares about the environment, unlike our friends over here who have not bothered to ask one question in a single year amongst the entire lot of them.

The member for Corangamite is also a great friend of constituents and she voted to repeal the carbon tax, to reduce the cost of electricity and to deliver savings to her constituents. Despite what those opposite said, the savings to constituents are not just flowing, they have been backdated to 1 July 2014. What do we see for Victorian consumers? For customers of AGL Energy, we see an 8.9 per cent electricity saving; for customers of Powerdirect, a 12.4 per cent electricity saving. For small business customers in Australia with AGL, we see a 9.7 per cent electricity saving; with Simply Energy, a 10 per cent saving; and with Lumo Energy, a 10.7 per cent saving.

The thing to remember is those opposite said these price savings would never flow back to consumers. It is not just electricity; it is also gas. Remember we said that on average there would be a seven per cent saving to consumers. In Victoria, for residential AGL customers there has been a 7.2 per cent saving. For Origin Energy customers, there has been a 7.5 per cent saving; and for Simply Energy customers, an eight per cent saving. If you are a small business user of gas, savings start at 10 per cent with Simply Energy, go to 10.3 per cent with AGL Energy and rise to 10.5 per cent with Origin Energy. These are the real savings going to consumers in small business and in residential situations right now, but these are the savings which those opposite want to take away.

Whether it is the member for Grayndler or whether it is the Leader of the Opposition, their plan is a very simple plan—that is, to return the carbon tax. They voted to keep it; we voted to repeal it. The reality is that electricity prices for Victorian consumers are coming down; gas prices for Victorian consumers are coming down. Every day that they sit there, they are preparing to vote the carbon tax back if they regain government.

There will be a very simple choice for the electors of Corangamite: a carbon tax with an 8.9 per cent increase for AGL Energy customers and a 12 per cent increase for Powerdirect customers under the Labor Party, or a reduction of those amounts under the coalition.

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