Louise Miller-Frost (Boothby, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'm very pleased to rise to speak to the member for Fairfax's motion. There isn't a great deal of the member's motion that's grounded in the reality of energy policy as it has played out in this country over the last ten years. Allow me to run through a brief history lesson as to how we got to this current situation. First, I want to acknowledge that this government understands and is aware of the immense pressure that rising energy prices have on Australians—on families, on households and on businesses. In fact, thanks to the member for Fairfax, we've had plenty of opportunities to outline what the government is doing on energy prices. Just last week, on Thursday, in the House of Representatives, I spoke to a matter of public importance moved by the member for Fairfax on this very topic. I'll take the opportunity to once again outline the facts when it comes to energy policy in Australia.

We are currently dealing with the most significant shock to energy markets in 50 years due to Russia's prolonged attack on Ukraine. Those opposite know full well that the major cause of energy price increases is the illegal war in Ukraine. Why would events on the other side of the world impact us here in Australia? That's because our energy market is exposed to international prices. Arguably, as an energy-producing country, we should not be exposed to international prices. After 22 failed energy plans under those opposite, you would think that we would have an energy market that works for Australians. But they didn't address this issue.

The Australian people also remember that the former energy minister, the member for Hume, deliberately hid rising energy costs so that they were not released until after last year's election. We now know that the member for Hume actually amended the industry code for electricity retailers on 7 April last year. Is that a really big coincidence? That was three days before the election was called, and he deliberately hid energy price rises from Australian voters until after the election. It's really hard to contemplate how anyone thought this was a justifiable or ethical course of action. But those opposite and the truth are strangers when it comes to energy prices. In May 2019, they promised to deliver an average energy wholesale price of $70 per megawatt hour by the end of 2021. Instead, by the time of the election in May 2022, the price was $286.18. They promised a 25 per cent discount, but they delivered a 240 per cent increase over three years. And yet they propose motions like these.

I might find it easier to accept the concern of those opposite regarding higher energy prices if, when given the opportunity to support something that would ease the pressure of those higher prices on Australians, they had done something about them. They didn't do anything to establish a reliable and strategic energy policy and framework in their decade in government. Now they propose nuclear energy as the answer—the most expensive form of energy, which would take a decade and more to establish—but they did nothing about it either, when they were in government. Late last year, when this government recalled parliament to legislate to deliver urgent energy price relief, how did those opposite respond? They voted against energy price relief for Australians. Remarkable!

We can now see that the final default market offer, the DMO, confirms that the Albanese government has limited the worst of the energy price spikes while investing in a long-term plan to get cheaper, cleaner energy for all Australians. Set by the Australian Energy Regulator, the DMO is the price that electricity retailers can charge customers, including in my home state of South Australia, on standard offers from 1 July 2023. It also serves as a benchmark for all electricity offers. Due to the government's electricity price intervention in December last year, the DMO increase is up to 27 percentage points lower in South Australia than it would otherwise have been, according to the Australian Energy Regulator. The increases in DMO prices are up to $492 lower than they would have been without the government's intervention for residential customers and up to $1,310 lower than they would have been for small businesses.

We know people are doing it tough, but this government is doing everything it possibly can to help. Unlike those opposite, who, when given the opportunity, voted against energy price relief, the people of Boothby and the people of Australia aren't stupid. They won't forget that. We won't forget a wasted decade, and we don't have time to waste now.

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