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

The $550 figure was confirmed by the ACCC in a report to the minister dated July 2015. So I refer to the ACCC. But I want to get back, on the subject of electricity prices, to my friend from the Hunter—Andy Vesey's friend. The single most obvious solution to the problem created by the closure of Liddell is to keep Liddell going for a longer period. We've suggested another five years because, if it closes in 2022, it will deliver a shock of the scale of the closure of Hazelwood—and we know what happened then. We know that caused a big spike in electricity prices, and there is no doubt that, if Liddell were to close in 2022 without that replacement baseload power, you would get a similar shock. The only beneficiary from that—let's be frank about this—

Dr Mike Kelly interjecting—

is AGL and the other big energy companies. In a tight energy supply market, prices go up and they do well; that's why they're making such big profits.

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