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

There he is! The member for Isaacs calls out, 'That's right!' That's the vision you've got in the Labor Party.

So, basically, the Labor Party have learnt nothing about energy. Every step we've taken to benefit Australian consumers, they've either sneered at or opposed. When we called in the electricity retailers and secured, for thousands of Australian families, cuts of hundreds of dollars in their electricity bills, that was a 'stunt'. When we took action on gas, they claimed they had no responsibility for creating the problem until they finally fessed up to it.

And what about the limited merits review? This is a very interesting one. This is a case where the energy companies, the owners of the poles and wires, have been appealing to the courts, with the privilege not granted to other utilities, to get their rates that they can charge up and above what the regulator says. It has resulted in over $6 billion of higher charges. It's plainly wrong. We've brought in legislation to abolish it. Labor actually said they supported it. But, when it got to the Senate, what did they do? They kicked it off to a committee. They could have passed it through the Senate and given relief immediately.

Ms Plibersek interjecting—

And then, when we go to AGL and say, 'Look, the most obvious way to avoid this blackout, to avoid Australians having to pay this blackout bill, is to keep that power station going for longer', they attack us over that too. They have no plan and no vision for Australia's energy. (Time expired)

Ms Plibersek interjecting—

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