Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Workplace Relations) Share this | Hansard source

Sitting here through this MPI, I'm no clearer as to why the Liberals and the Nationals are being so ridiculous when it comes to energy policy. They talk about consumers as though consumers are not voters. They're the same people. Over and over again, the voters throughout Australia have tried to teach them a lesson about where they stand on the privatisation of their energy assets. The member for Rankin mentioned what happened in Queensland. Do I have to remind those opposite again that there was a massive victory to Labor when they tried to privatise the energy network under Campbell Newman? Do we have to remind them about what happened in WA? There was a similar result in the election. What happened way back when Jeff Kennett was the Premier of Victoria and he privatised the industry there? There was a victory to Labor, and Labor has been in government ever since. In my part of the world in Victoria, Jacinta Allan has been the state member since 1999 and she's now, on primaries, winning that seat.

It all goes back to the fact that what this mob opposite cannot get out of their system is how addicted they are to privatising public assets. On this new position, this clause they've put forward, in all their contributions they've sidestepped and not really addressed the fact that what they're trying to do is force states to privatise their assets. It's a new low and a level of ridiculousness by the government to suggest that they're going to start dictating to states like Queensland and Tasmania, where, again, the voters recently reminded them what they think of their ideas and their tough approach towards these states.

But it's not just the states that are up in arms about what the government are putting forward in terms of this policy. The government have also managed to upset the business community—their natural constituency. Jennifer Westacott has come out and said:

The principle that governments can misuse their power to break up companies sets a dangerous precedent that will deter investment across the economy.

This will do nothing to solve high power prices for families and businesses struggling to pay their bills today.

When you've got your own criticising you, you'd think you'd take a step back. But, no, they haven't. It doesn't stop there. You've got the Australian Industry Group having a go. You've got the energy companies themselves having a go. You've got small businesses and families having a go. The fact is that energy prices are higher today than they've ever been before because of this government and its failure. It has been in government now for five years and it has failed. When you go to any manufacturer in regional Australia, they tell you that they are price-takers. They've got a lack of ability to negotiate contracts. Some of them are stuck on month-to-month contracts with their energy companies because this government has failed. Its inability to set long-term policy, the chops and changes it has had, has caused this problem.

They stand here now with another new policy, one that is so radical that it will actually cause real damage in states like Queensland. If they force the state of Queensland to sell their assets, they can't even tell us which other state enterprise they can sell their assets to. Do they set up Energy Queensland 2? Do they sell it to another state? Do they sell it to the federal government? This policy is so poorly designed and so done to try and appease people on their own backbench that they can't answer the most basic of questions. It should be withdrawn. It should be withdrawn, and the government should take seriously what Labor has put forward.

They've tried to criticise the policy that Labor's put forward, which would help consumers with battery storage. How could you do that? It is not only a popular policy; it makes sense to households. They've got solar panels on the roof; we're going to help them with the next step of putting batteries in their homes to store energy. We know that this kind of technology is already changing what is happening in a lot of our agricultural industries. Where farmers have the ability to have onsite storage, they are able to lower their energy bills. When they have the ability to go off grid, their farming enterprises are turning around, and good on them for doing that. Good on them for going off grid and being able to power themselves.

People want to be more engaged in power. They want to see a power-sharing grid. What they don't want is the way this government is treating energy policy, particularly by turning around to the states and saying, 'Do it our way or divest.' (Time expired)

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