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

They were wrong! In the September quarter, in the first quarter after the carbon tax was repealed we have had the largest decrease in recorded history in Australia with regard to electricity prices. The biggest drop in electricity prices in Australian history. I am delighted to give you some examples. The member for McMahon happens to be from New South Wales. Residential electricity prices under EnergyAustralia are 8.9 per cent lower; residential electricity prices in New South Wales under Simply Energy are 10 per cent lower; small business prices under Simply Energy are nine per cent lower; and Origin Energy has said that, in relation to commercial and industrial customers, it is 15 per cent lower. Those are the exact figures which have been given to the ACCC and for which companies are liable under law. That is what is actually happening in the real world. They pledged they would never have a carbon tax and then they delivered one which hit Australian families for six. They also delivered a massive money-go-round of funds of $9.2 billion to steel, paper, glass, aluminium, zinc and cement firms, and to Queensland Nickel. They also delivered $5.5 billion to the largest energy firms in the country, the very firms which they demonised—brown-coal generators in Victoria. By comparison, we said we would repeal the carbon tax; by comparison, we said that we would reduce electricity costs; by comparison, we did what we said and we said what we would do and that is what we should be doing.

Now I want to say something about who is going to benefit under the Carbon Farming Initiative: the Bendigo Landfill Gas Project; the Ballarat Landfill Gas Project, in Wedderburn, Greenfleet and the Loddon Shire Council are hosting environmental projects. And if you go around the country: the Jack Scully landfill project; we have Cessnock and the Cessnock City Council; in Dungog and Port Stephens there are benefits in terms of offset programs; Biomass Solutions in Coffs Harbour; and in the Bourke Shire Council we have environmental improvements. It is the little sector that will benefit from us; it was the big end of town that always benefitted from a hideous carbon tax. (Time expired)

See this speech in context