Josh Wilson (Fremantle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

the one thing that might have made a serious contribution to putting us in a better position. They couldn't land a single one, yet they come in here and try and point the finger at us and make political hay from circumstances that are causing pain and difficulty for Australian households.

People in Australia won't be fooled by that. Those opposite sought to take them as fools for nine years, and Australians have had a gutful of that. They've had enough of that, and they've chosen something different. They now have a government that is responsible and responsive. Facing the energy price rise circumstances which are fuelled by the war in Ukraine and based on nine years of hopelessness, incompetence and dishonesty, we are doing practical things to alleviate that pressure right now, and we're doing a set of things to put Australia on a much better footing for affordable, reliable power in the future.

The Energy Price Relief Plan, which my colleagues have spoken about, started last year and continued in the budget. It is capping coal and gas prices and delivering specific relief to households. In my state of Western Australia, what would have happened but for the intervention of this government would have been a relatively modest increase in prices, because, of course, we have an enlightened gas reservation policy in Western Australia that a former state government put in place, which means that Australians actually get the benefit of the resources that belong to all of us. It's a shame that that kind of foresight wasn't applied more widely. As a result, the projected price increase in Western Australia was only going to be 2.5 per cent, which is pretty modest by Australian standards. In fact households, as a result of our Energy Price Relief Plan, will get cost reductions to the tune of 18 per cent, and that will make a difference to people at a time when they're doing it tough. That same impact is being shared across the country. It's something that we began introducing late last year and we've continued with this budget.

That was voted against by those opposite, every single time. So, when they come in here with their stories about a business or a household, we know that, in each and every case, they haven't had the courage, when they've gone and spoken to that person who's said, 'I'm under this pressure,' to say:'Well, to the extent that the current government—after nine years of zero; after nine years of less than nothing—is actually taking steps to improve your circumstances, I voted against it.' And they never, ever have the courage to face up to those householders or businesses and say: 'We have stood in the way of some relief that you desperately need.'

But we're doing more than that. It's not just about relief in the present; it's about our energy system as a whole. We are investing in renewables—as the minister said earlier today, investment is up by 55 per cent—because we know that renewables are far and away the cheapest form of new energy generation. We're investing in storage, with the community batteries program. There's $20 billion for rewiring Australia. And there's the new Hydrogen Headstart program that was announced in the budget. All of these things are about our energy future. All of these things are about low-carbon energy at the cheapest price and delivering Australia much greater control and sovereignty over our energy needs going into the future.

Interestingly enough, the member for Fairfax didn't get on his nuclear hobbyhorse. We didn't hear, though we may yet hear, from the yellowcake brigade; we may yet hear from the recreational fissioners in the coalition, who want literally the slowest, most inflexible, most expensive, most dangerous form of energy. That's their one bright new idea. We didn't hear that, but maybe we will right now. (Time expired)

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