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

I thank my honourable friend for the question. I also thank him for his friendship over the last 17 years. I know the whole House wishes him the best.

The Albanese government is focused on two things: delivering cost-of-living relief today and delivering cheaper energy into the future—and there have been developments on both fronts since the parliament last sat. We are delivering energy bill relief through the budget, and the Treasurer just referred to the inflation figures that were released the week before last. Those figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics also dealt with energy prices and said:

Electricity prices fell 17.9 per cent of the 12 months to August … This is the largest annual fall for Electricity on record.

We also have seen progress in relation to energy prices more broadly. I can tell the House that yesterday wholesale electricity prices were $53.92, compared to $286 on the day we came to office. The shadow Treasurer, the then minister for energy, promised electricity prices at wholesale level of $70 a megawatt hour at the 2019 election. Today they are $53 a megawatt hour. This is what real progress looks like.

The honourable member also asked me what could push prices up. We've also seen developments on that since the House last sat.

See this speech in context