Jim Chalmers (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

I want to begin this answer with a little bit of advice for the member for Hume. Member for Hume, when these geniuses write you a question which has something to do with energy prices, you should say, 'Thanks, but no thanks.' Mate, I would be happy if you asked me 11 questions a day about the energy market, because every single member of this House knows, and the people of Australia know, that the member for Hume, as the energy minister, is more responsible than anyone for the last decade of energy policy failures, which have driven up the cost of energy. If the member wants to ask me about inflation in this economy, he could at least fess up to the fact that he knew before the election that electricity prices were about to go up by around 20 per cent, but he sat on that information. He didn't tell the Australian people about that.

This is the political and economic equivalent of the arsonist whinging about the firefighters taking too long—those opposite asking us about inflation when their record is of almost a decade now of making all the problems in our economy worse rather than better. It takes a lot of nerve to ask a question about the cost of living. The member for Hume, wanting to talk about his record earlier today, wrecked the energy market, he rorted the budget and now he wants to get his hands on the Australian economy.

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