Susan Lamb (Longman, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Fairfax for highlighting the really important issue of Queensland's rising electricity prices, because it really is an issue in Queensland. It is an issue because his government refuses to take meaningful action, instead of cutting federal support, that would ease the pressure that energy bills are placing on some of our society's most vulnerable people. They would not be the first LNP government to do this, either. In fact, it happened pretty recently—I am sure he will remember—at the state level in Queensland, the very region that he comes from and that he is taking issue with.

If it had been left to Campbell Newman and his rash and imprudent LNP government, the people of Queensland would no longer own their power sector companies. Despite his pre-election commitments, as Premier Mr Newman sought to sell off Queensland's assets. The public of Queensland know what happens when assets are privatised. They knew that it would jack up their energy bills and they did not want it. So guess what they did? It was up to Labor, under Annastacia Palaszczuk, to keep the assets in public hands. They succeeded, and thanks to them private companies have not been able to raise prices even further.

Queensland's state Labor government committed to delivering stable electricity prices, and they have. Prices have only increased by a minimal 1.9 per cent per year on average in this term. When you compare that to the 43 per cent increase that the Newman-Nicholls government burdened Queenslanders with, it is obvious that the downward pressure the Palaszczuk government had placed on wholesale prices is paying off for Queenslanders.

That is not all that Queensland is doing, either. Let us talk about that. On 5 June this year, they released the Powering Queensland Plan. I am sure you have heard about it, Member for Fairfax, who is walking out the door. That plan in part backs the gas generator that had been mothballed by the LNP. That will reduce the household bill increase in regional Queensland from 7.1 per cent to 3.3 per cent. So if the Queensland Labor government had such a positive effect on its state's electricity prices, why are prices skyrocketing federally?

There is the key word: federally. This federal government, the federal coalition government, has done nothing but worsen Australia's energy market. This government has caused prices to shoot upwards. It has done nothing about it, and it continues to damage our environment. If only there were some recently released report that could help prevent energy prices from continuing to rise and help our government. If only there were something—something like this! Guess what?

Something needs to be done about Australia's energy crisis. Something needs to be done that reduces damage done to our environment and stops the rises in energy prices. This report, the Finkel review, does both. Accepting the guidance of our nation's Chief Scientist would help bring Australia's energy industry into the future, yet Prime Minister Turnbull is too cowardly to stand up to his own party and just accept it. He is too cowardly to stand up to the arrogant science deniers of his party, members of the far right like the member for Warringah, Tony Abbott. Yes, despite the numerous messages from Australia's business leaders, leaders like the Business Council of Australia, who are quoted as saying that doing nothing means 'we will continue to pay higher prices and have less secure electricity supply'—that is what they said; I quoted that—the Prime Minister is still refusing to stand with Labor and do the right thing.

To the member for Fairfax—and it is a bit of a shame that he has left; he put forward this really important motion and could not be bothered to stay and listen to members of the opposition and what we have to say; it was so important—I agree. Do you know what? I agree with him. Something has to be done about Queensland's energy prices, but not by the state government, because the Queensland state government has been doing an exceptional job at keeping prices down. There is evidence of that. But what has to be done has to be done by their government, because their government—Malcolm Turnbull and the member for Fairfax's government—needs to accept the Finkel review and bring Australia back into the future.

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