Ian Goodenough (Moore, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Treasurer. Will the Treasurer update the House on the importance of a stable and secure energy network to the Australian economy.

Mr Keogh interjecting—

Mr Dick interjecting—

What are the impacts of higher electricity prices and less stable supply on job security and the hip pockets of hardworking Australian families?

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Moore will resume his seat. The Treasurer will resume his seat. The members for Burt and Oxley were interjecting right through the question. I am now going to get the member for Moore to repeat his question and, if there is a repeat of that, they will join their colleagues outside the chamber. They will leave me no choice.

Ian Goodenough (Moore, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Treasurer. Will the Treasurer update the House on the importance of a stable and secure energy network to the Australian economy. What are the impacts of higher electricity prices and less stable supply on job security and the hip pockets of hardworking Australian families?

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Moore for his question. When the Prime Minister and I met earlier this week with the Committee for Adelaide, they reminded us that South Australia was the canary in the coalmine when it comes to the reckless energy policies of those who sit opposite. They see the experiment, that terrible experiment that is being played out in South Australia under the matched renewable energy policies of those opposite who sit in this chamber. What we are seeing in South Australia is what happens when Labor policy grabs hold of our energy grid.

We have seen experiments from the Labor Party before when they were in office. We saw their experiments on border protection; we saw their experiments on policies that set fire to people's roofs and led to the terrible tragedies that we saw. We saw the experiments they put in place which saw overpriced school halls, and the complete catastrophe that drove our budget back into deficit and presents us with the debt burden that we have today.

Energy security is critical to businesses and households, and what we saw last night from the shadow Treasurer was not only an exposition of incoherence and incompetence but, if you wade through all of that—as I said, all the ifs and the buts and the aye-ayes and the well, wells and all the rest of it—

Mr Thistlethwaite interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Kingsford Smith will cease interjecting.

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

on four separate occasions last night, the shadow Treasurer said that there would be no impact on electricity prices of a renewable energy target of 50 per cent. He said it on four separate occasions—absolutely no impact on electricity prices for households if you forced renewable energy at 50 per cent. On top of that, he said there would be absolutely no impact whatsoever on the budget. Now, it took a while to decipher that from his comments, but on four occasions he said 'there is no impact'.

What sort of a fantasy land is the shadow Treasurer living in when he thinks if you forced investment in renewables—and I do not know where he thinks the subsidies are going to come from for the $48 billion of additional investment that needs to be made or how he thinks that is going to flow through into energy prices for households. But is it any wonder that those opposite think that that is some sort of sensible policy? In the alternative reality in which they live, they think that it will have no impact on electricity prices. The shadow Treasurer has given the Leader of the Opposition a blank cheque when it comes to reckless renewable energy policies and abandoning the all-of-the-above approach that has been pursued by this side of the House. The coalophobia of those opposite treating coal like it is a great Jabberwocky is very concerning. It is going to cost jobs and it is going to cost business. (Time expired)