Ian Macfarlane (Groom, Liberal Party, Minister for Industry and Science) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Eden-Monaro for his question. He is quite right; electricity prices are front of mind in households around Australia. In fact, discussion about the cost of electricity has replaced the conversation which existed in my earlier political career around the price of petrol. People now look at their electricity bills and they wonder how they can lower them. I have to give them credit; households are doing a fantastic job in embracing energy efficiency in their households—either through state policy or independently installing smart meters and energy efficient appliances. In my household we recently installed a front-loading washing machine. Along with incredible efficiency in terms of its energy consumption, its water efficiency is also worth noting.

This government takes this issue particularly seriously. One of the first things we did as a government—as the member for Eden-Monaro knows, and as I am sure his constituents still appreciate—was remove the carbon tax, saving households a very significant sum of money in relation to their electricity costs and their household bills. In specific terms in relation to the member's question, we will continue the issue of energy market reform, which is a challenging issue.

Without breaking the bipartisanship that I expressed earlier, I can say that it was one of my criticisms—if not my only criticism—that during the tenure of the previous Minister for Resources, Martin Ferguson, the issue of energy market reform did not progress as far as I would have hoped. I hoped that by the time I got back here it would have been all finished, but unfortunately that was not the case. There is still some way to go. We are looking at the contribution of a productive energy sector to a stronger economy. Energy productivity is a measure of economy value created in every unit of energy consumed, and it is an area that we continue to pursue.

Improving Australia's energy productivity can reduce costs for households and businesses, grow our economy, maintain our competitiveness and improve our sustainability. The more productive use of energy can also delay the need for new energy supply infrastructure, which in turn lowers the cost to users who would otherwise be paying for that infrastructure. The National Energy Productivity Plan, or NEPP, will include a work plan to progress both existing and new initiatives across the energy efficiency policy and energy market reform areas.

The Australian government will work with state and territory governments, and that is always a joy, but some states are more cooperative than others. Surprisingly, some Labor states are more cooperative than some coalition states. I have to tell you that has not changed in the 15 years since I first became a minister. The meetings are less entertaining and more productive, but there is still the occasional spat. We will work through the COAG council on energy during June 2015 to consider collaborative measures to support the work plan, as well as Commonwealth measures, particularly voluntary industry-led measures, which are also expected to be part of the work plan. Measures to improve energy productivity include traditional energy efficiency measures such as minimum standards, but also wider energy market reforms promoting efficient energy use, decisions and markets such as efficient pricing, servicing and competition.

In the area of opportunities for Australia to improve its energy productivity, the work plan for NEPP will include measures which support efficient decisions by consumers of all sizes, in all sectors, when selecting energy services such as smart meters—which I have mentioned—cost-reflected prices or time-of-use charging, as it is known, and access to information and labels. It will also support the development of better energy services through innovation and competition, such as reducing barriers to entry in the market for new technologies and service options. I have to say that there are some fantastic energy saving technologies and energy efficient appliances coming onto the market virtually every day. We will also ensure that efficient minimum services, including through standards for equipment, appliances and buildings, are made available.

Energy productivity measures can drive a range of wider benefits such as jobs in new services and health and labour productivity improvements in better buildings. Using energy more productively can reduce the amount of energy we use, resulting in low emissions from energy consumption.

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