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

I'm surprised that the Leader of the Opposition would open up with a question on energy prices on the very day—in fact, within not many minutes—that the Senate passed the abolition of the Limited Merits Review. This is a coalition government initiative, an initiative of my government, which the ACCC has said in its report will bring down the cost of energy in the future. Let's read what the ACCC said about our initiative: 'The ACCC welcomes the move. Reviews sought by network operators have added billions of dollars to the cost born by electricity users. The ACCC considers that the removal of this avenue of appeal will help ensure network pricing is moderated in the future.' That's the action we have taken. We have also taken action to ensure that retail costs come down. We've gone out to the retailers and ensured that they deliver the best deals to their customers. And thousands of Australian families are paying less for electricity now—saving hundreds of dollars a year in many cases—than they were before.

Of course, the single biggest factor in pushing up electricity prices in recent times has been the price of gas. Why's that? Well, the Labor Party in government allowed gas to be exported from the east coast of Australia without paying any attention to the need to protect the domestic market. We took strong action and we delivered a commitment—a contractual commitment—from the energy companies to supply more gas. As honourable members would know, wholesale prices have been coming down as a result.

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