Chris Bowen (McMahon, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change and Energy) Share this | Hansard source

Every time a member of parliament walks into this chamber to vote, they make a choice and they indicate their priorities. Today government members and other members who'll be voting for the Treasury Laws Amendment (Energy Price Relief Plan) Bill 2022 make their priorities and choices clear. We stand for electricity prices not being elevated by the war in Ukraine. We stand for gas companies being able to make a fair profit but not an unfair, elevated profit off the back of the war in Ukraine. This bill will cap gas prices at $12 a gigajoule. Ninety-six per cent of gas in 2021 was sold for less than $12 a gigajoule. The average price was $9.20. That was a fair price. The gas companies were not complaining. They were making decent profits. Since then we have seen those prices skyrocket.

This is Australian gas, under Australian soil and Australian seas, and Australians have a right to it at a fair price. That is the fundamental principle that the House has to decide today. The government's position is clear. The crossbench's position is clear. And, frankly, the opposition's position is clear as well. Their talking points could have fallen off the back of a truck from a gas company. It is their right to do that, but we have a different job. We respect the job of gas companies to maximise their profits. It's our job to protect the Australian people and act in the national interest, and that's what we are doing today.

We will not stand by and see manufacturers in Western Sydney, or anywhere across Australia, pay the price of Putin's war in Ukraine. We will not do that. And, from this day forward, whenever the opposition say they stand for jobs or stand for industry, their hypocrisy will be called out. Whenever they talk about energy prices, their hypocrisy will be called out. Today the opposition will vote against lower energy prices. They will vote against the impact of the price rises being mitigated by this bill. They will vote against that, and they will be reminded of it constantly, because their priorities are clear. They do not regard this as a situation where the parliament should come together and act in the best interests of the nation. We've just been through a health pandemic, and the Labor Party, as the opposition, acted constructively. We engaged. We even supported things we didn't 100 per cent agree with, because it was the right thing to do for the nation. We are now facing an energy pandemic, and the culprits of 10 years of denial and delay are not interested in engaging.

We've heard a lot about the bill and when the opposition got the bill. The Leader of the Opposition came out and said this plan was a catastrophe before he'd seen a press release, let alone a bill. When the Prime Minister and the premiers reached agreement, the Leader of the Opposition came out and said that this was a catastrophe—before he'd seen a bill, before he'd seen a press release. The shadow minister, on Sunday, said, 'I've been through the bill, and it's a monster and a disaster.' The Leader of the Opposition said yesterday, 'I haven't seen the bill,' and 'I'm against it.' They're either against it because they've seen it and they don't like it or they're against it because they haven't seen it. Just pick an alibi and stick to it. That's my advice to the opposition. Pick a lane and stick in the lane. They can't do that. They're not up to the job. The government's position and priorities are clear, and so are the opposition's. I commend the bill to the House.

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