Dan Tehan (Wannon, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship) Share this | Hansard source

Isn't it timely that we are discussing this bill today, the Offshore Electricity Infrastructure Legislation Amendment Bill 2022, the day after the budget, because what we saw in the budget last night was something quite extraordinary. We saw the government come out and admit that over the next two years your electricity bill is going to go up by 50 per cent—50 per cent! Yet, we heard nothing—and we haven't heard it mentioned since the election—about the government's commitment to deliver a drop in your electricity bill by $275. It was mentioned 97 times in the lead-up to the election. You would have thought that the Treasurer last night would have been up-front with the Australian people and said, 'Sorry, we can't deliver that $275 reduction in your power bill.' But there was no mention of it—none whatsoever.

We've got the minister here in the chamber! He won't mention the words $275. I will say them while he's here: $275.

Stand up, Minister, because we'd love to hear it: $275. I'm happy to cede the floor to you. Come on, mention $275!

Honourable members interjecting—

Oh! Just so everyone's aware, and we've got two members here who heard it, he was mumbling under his breath '$275'—

yet he will not stand up and say $275! Say it in the parliament. Get on your feet and say it so that everyone can hear it. You said it 97 times during the election, but you will not mention it now. Not once. You were at the dispatch box six or seven times yesterday. You did not mention $275. And this is the sad reality: it shows you how duplicitous this government is. That's the sad reality that Australians have woken up to today. They've seen the budget papers and they've seen duplicity—outright duplicity. It's a shame, because it's going to be households that feel the pain of that 50 per cent increase.

And not only that, businesses are also going to feel the pain of that 50 per cent increase. The sad reality is, as we also saw last night, the budget papers show that the unemployment rate in this nation is going to go up. One of the reasons the unemployment rate will go up is because these energy bills continue to go up. The sad reality that the budget also showed is that real wages aren't going to go up like the government promised before the election. Real wages were meant to go up, but they will go down. What we saw in the budget last night was a government with no plan, no economic plan whatsoever, to address the challenges that this nation faces.

Now, what about this Offshore Electricity Infrastructure Legislation Amendment Bill? What about this bill? Well, this bill builds on some very good work that we did when we were in government. But it also shows, and demonstrates once again, that the government has no plan. Let's think about how offshore wind is going to be developed in this nation. Right now all the contents for offshore wind will be imported—all the blades will be imported, all the towers will be imported—because this government has no plan, no plan whatsoever, to see how we can have local components in these offshore wind farms. None whatsoever. And I would say to the minister, while he's here, he needs to think long and hard as to how he is going to ensure this is going to happen. I'm told that when he was approached about this he was completely dismissive about it. He wouldn't even give the time of day to those who raised it with him. I'm hoping that arrogant, out-of-touch, duplicitous approach that we're already seeing from this government will begin to change, and we will start to see them looking very seriously at these issues.

We also know, because the minister—I'm so glad he's here—has told us, there is going to be 28,000 kilometres of new poles and wires right across the landscape of this nation. Now I, sadly, have already seen what those kilometres of poles and wires look like if they're not done properly, if there's not community consultation, and if those poles and wires shouldn't be above ground—especially in bush prone areas and in areas where there is good productive agricultural land. Those wires should go underground because, at the moment, those poles and wires are coming in and, more often than not, they're using cheap steel that's been imported from China and they are a blot on the landscape. And not only that, they are being put on roadways, next to roads, so they're actually dangerous. They are actually dangerous. They're not being properly regulated, they are not being properly put in place and they are dangerous. They're already eroding, and our road network is already dangerous enough. So, Minister, 28,000 kilometres of new poles and wires is not going to be accepted by the people of rural and regional Australia, and you're going to have to think very, very carefully about how you are going to do this. We're already seeing it as a blot on the landscape, and it will only make a bad situation worse if you do not get this right.

We also need to think about how you are going to be able to deliver a proper transition when it comes to energy for this nation, because, right now, you are rushing in a way which is going to turn the lights out in this nation. Any transition has to be done properly, and any transition has to be done with a careful plan. We are seeing nothing from this government about how its rush to renewables is, in any way, going to generate jobs in this nation and put downward pressure on energy prices. As a matter of fact, we're seeing the complete opposite. We are seeing a plan which is going to lead to job losses and which is going to see energy prices go up. This will have a detrimental impact on the Australian people, and, worse than that, it will have a detrimental impact on the communities that rely on cheap energy to make sure that they can sustain their livelihoods.

Minister, you absolutely need to go back to the drawing board to look at what you are doing to this nation. We know that, last time you were in government as a minister, there was complete chaos within the portfolios that you administered. The sad reality is that we're starting to see the exact same thing again, and that is because you don't have a plan. We had a plan, and the Offshore Electricity Infrastructure Bill was part of our plan. It was part of an orderly transition which would see this nation being able to continue to generate jobs, while also dealing with downward pressure on emissions and downward pressure on electricity prices. Now we are seeing the complete opposite.

One of the things that really concerns me more than anything else is what impact this will have on communities in my electorate, in particular the town of Portland, where we have one of the few aluminium smelters in this nation. We have to make sure that there is an orderly transition which will see them continuing to access affordable energy that will enable them to continue to provide aluminium, which earns us export income and provides jobs to our local community. If we do not get this transition right, those jobs will go and all the benefits that accrue to the local community from that smelter will disappear.

We have not only that but also Keppel Prince, which makes wind towers, and, if we don't get this transition right and if the minister can't deliver on his wild claims of how many jobs are going to be delivered by renewable energy, then we're going to see those jobs at Keppel Prince go as well. I am yet to see any plan from this minister—none whatsoever—as to how any content in offshore wind will come from Australia. I would say this to you, Minister: you need to lose a little bit of the arrogance and go and talk to these people. Sit down with them and work out how you're going to deliver on the jobs that you have promised. They are not seeing anything, and they are hearing nothing from you as to how that is going to take place.

In summary, it's timely that we're debating this bill today, because last night we saw the most extraordinary budget delivered. It was much ado about nothing apart from one fact: the commitment from this government to take $275 off your electricity bill was jettisoned and what we got instead was a 50 per cent increase in your energy bill over the next two years. The $275 is out the door and a 50 per cent increase is coming to your energy bill over the next two years. What a budget! That was the key takeaway from the budget.

We also know that we are going to see 28,000 kilometres of new poles and wire infrastructure across the Australian rural landscape, with no plan on community engagement; no plan on making sure that those wires will go underground where there's productive agricultural land and where we need to protect our local communities from fire hazard; and no plan on upgrading the two-phase power that still exists in a lot of rural and regional Australia. We're going to have lots of new poles and wires and nothing to address the two-phase power that we have across many parts of rural and regional Australia. There is no plan whatsoever.

The one good thing about this discussion is that we now know that the minister mumbled '$275' under his breath—and we heard it! So now we will wait for the minister to get up and actually say: 'We will not be proceeding with the $275 cut to your electricity bill that we promised 97 times before the election. We will not be proceeding with that.' Minister, that's what we want to hear. You mentioned $275; you mumbled it under your breath. Let's hear you get on your feet and just admit it to the Australian people. There's nothing wrong with admitting you promised something and you can't deliver it. Just get up and admit it—you've admitted there's going to be a 50 per cent increase in people's energy bills. Although I note the Treasurer didn't say that last night. It was just in the budget papers; he didn't say it in his address last night. So hopefully what we're going to get now from the minister is a bit of honesty and a bit of frankness. He's going to come clean with the Australian people. He's going to say: 'Your electricity bill isn't going to go down by $275. Instead, it's going to go up by 50 per cent over the next two years.'

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