Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

They do, says the member for Isaacs. Well, when they were in government, they doubled. That was their contribution.

Mr Dreyfus interjecting—

So they have a great track record. Perhaps they think that, because they know how to double electricity prices, they have an insight into how to bring them down.

The reality is that the challenges we face in terms of electricity prices are overwhelmingly the consequence of policy failures by the Labor Party, allowing energy and climate policy to be determined by ideology and politics, not by engineering and economics. There was the setting of massive renewable targets without any regard to the storage and the backup power that was so obviously necessary. There was no regard given to that at all. Therein lies the foundation of South Australia's problems.

But, right now, the single biggest element pressuring wholesale prices for electricity is the price of gas. Why have gas prices gone up so much? Well, it could have a bit to do with the Victorian Labor government banning exploration and development. It could have a bit to do with that. What about the decision of the previous federal Labor government and the Queensland Labor government to allow a massive level of investment in exporting gas as LNG from Curtis Island without having any regard to the consequences for domestic supply? And yet they were warned. They were warned in their own energy white paper and warned by AEMO. They knew it was a risk and they took it. And my government has had to take the strong and unprecedented step of putting restrictions on exports in order to protect tens of thousands of Australian jobs.

Opposition members interjecting—

Labor's track record on energy is consistent. The one thing you know about the Labor Party is that energy and electricity will always be more expensive.

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