Melissa McIntosh (Lindsay, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

A family in St Marys could be saving $802 a year on their electricity bill. A hairdresser or cafe in Penrith could be paying up to $3,300 less a year. This is how our energy policies—the Morrison government's energy policies—are working for everyday Aussies and our local small businesses right across the country. We are focusing on practical, technology led solutions to deliver affordable, reliable energy.

I'm so pleased that I was part of the announcement of one of these practical solutions: the Hotel Energy Uplift Program. The minister for energy and I were together at the Australian Arms Hotel in Penrith to announce the program. It means that local businesses, small businesses, motels, small hotels and serviced apartments can apply for up to $25,000 in grants that go toward energy efficient upgrades. It can be used for upgrades to air conditioning or upgrades to windows—things that will make their businesses more energy efficient, which is great news for our local businesses. They've been struggling so much during the coronavirus pandemic, particularly our local hotels, and we know this. That's why we are supporting them. I'm so proud that businesses right across my community of Lindsay are getting supported with this grant. It is absolutely fantastic.

When I'm talking about small businesses, I'm never more proud than when I go out to local small businesses and see that they're doing it for themselves. They're not reliant on government getting in the way; they are investing in their own businesses and taking their own risks. There has never been a more positive story than Custom Denning, who are in St Marys. They are making Australia's first electric bus. They are doing this from a technology led perspective and they are leading the way across our country. The minister for energy and I took a ride on one of these buses. I'm so proud that this is happening in our local community, more so because they support 150 local jobs. They told me about the tradespeople that came on and helped them with their business. They told me about the trainees that came on and worked in their business and grew with their business. Like 600 manufacturers across Lindsay, they know that manufacturing leads the world and, when we're competing on quality and innovation, we are light years ahead of the rest.

I also want to hear from my community, because I am passionate to hear from them, about energy. I held a forum with the Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction, and we talked about our policies to support small businesses and our plan to deliver reliable, affordable energy. From builders to swim schools, manufacturers to retailers—we heard from a wide range of people in my community of Lindsay just a few weeks ago. We were talking about how important it is that our policies are supporting them and our plan to drive down costs. Very pleasingly, they talked to me about how these plans are working.

In fact, these plans are working so well that electricity bills are expected to fall in the second half of 2021 and beyond thanks to continued action by the Morrison government to reduce energy prices for families and businesses. The Australian Energy Regulator has released its draft determination for the default market offer for the 2021-22 year, signalling further substantial price reductions for households and businesses across New South Wales. This is great news for local Lindsay families and local small businesses; I have 15,000 small businesses across my community of Lindsay who will benefit from this. Under the AER's draft determination, residential customers on standing offers in New South Wales could save as much as $136 a year on their electricity bills compared to 2020-21. This means our policies are working because prices are coming down. Small businesses in New South Wales could end up slashing their energy costs by $577 a year. These are facts. The fact is in the figures.

These price falls follow on from the Morrison government's introduction of the default market offer in July 2019, protecting customers from excessively high standing offer contracts, making it easier for customers to shop around. As I said, the facts are here and there is nothing more factual than ABS statistics showing that household electricity bills doubled under Labor, whereas under this government Australian households have now experienced eight consecutive quarters of year-on-year electricity price falls. I am so proud of our energy policies. We're working for Australian people and we're working for local businesses. (Time expired)

See this speech in context