Tracey Roberts (Pearce, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in support of the member for Dunkley's motion about the strong and decisive actions the Albanese Labor government is taking on energy prices. We have a plan. We are taking highly constructive actions to support Australians, rather than simply stonewalling and saying: 'No. No to this. No to that. No, no, no.' That's 'no-alition' at its best.

Remember that it was the Liberal and National parties that left us with $1 trillion in debt and oversaw a decade of chaos in energy policy. They voted against action on power prices. Not only did the 'no-alition' vote against strong and decisive action on power prices; they also tried to block direct energy bill relief, something that families desperately need. The message to Australian families from the 'no-alition' is that they don't deserve support. How out of touch is that?

If the opposition got their way, power prices would keep going up and up and up, and households would get no help—nothing! How out of touch is it for those opposite to think that households and businesses should not get support? That is in stark contrast to the action that the Albanese government has taken on the rising cost of energy as well as other cost-of-living pressures. We have taken action to remove some of the bite from higher power prices because we want to help families, we want to support small businesses and we want to save Australian manufacturing. Yes, what we've done will take some time to fully flow through, but it is a welcome start, and it is reassuring to see that the plan is already starting to work. We have taken responsible and reasonable actions to help families and businesses, unlike the 'no-alition', which has done nothing but say no. We are making timely and targeted decisions. The market's response is encouraging and a sign that it will be effective. Prices have started to drop. Treasury analysis backs that. We are seeing strong progress on easing cost-of-living pressures for households and businesses because of the Albanese government's decisive and timely actions.

The plain facts are that in December, after the energy relief plan was released, forecast wholesale electricity prices for 2023 dropped compared to November before the plan. Forecast wholesale prices for 2023 have dropped from 29 to 44 per cent. Electricity future prices also fell steeply. In contrast, the opposition barely managed electricity policy amid their energy policy madness across nine years and 22 energy policies—yet not one of them worked. And they kept power price rises a secret until after the election—not good. As we already know, they then tried to block direct energy bill relief for households and businesses. If the opposition had their way, households would be paying $230 more for power bills than they would otherwise have to without a cent of extra support.

They had nine years and 22 failed energy policies, yet, in just less than a year in government, we are investing in our nation because we have a plan. We are investing $20 billion in Rewiring the Nation; a quarter of a million dollars for community batteries for 100,000 households; $25 billion in reducing emissions, in clean energy and in market stability; over $60 million for small businesses to become more energy efficient; half a billion dollars in the Driving the Nation Fund; and over $100 million for community solar banks to benefit 25,000 households.

In conclusion, the Albanese Labor government has a plan, and it is a robust and financially responsible plan.

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