David Coleman (Banks, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for the Environment and Energy. Will the minister update the House on what the government is doing to put downward pressure on energy bills? What obstacles stand in the way of delivering reliable and affordable energy to hardworking Australian businesses and families?

Josh Frydenberg (Kooyong, Liberal Party, Minister for the Environment and Energy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Banks for his question. I acknowledge his deep concern about the impact that rising electricity prices are having on people in his electorate. He understands that there's no single silver bullet for lowering electricity prices, and that's why the Turnbull government is taking action on a number of fronts: ensuring that there is more gas for domestic users; reining in the power of the networks to prevent them from gaming the system; investing in the newest technology and innovation, like Snowy Hydro 2.0; and ensuring that the cop on the beat, the ACCC, is keeping a firm hand on the margins in the retail sector.

Today's meeting was another step forward, because the Prime Minister was able to secure significant and substantive reforms. We will now ensure that there is better information provided to households and consumers. From now on, the electricity companies will be required to tell customers when they have come off a discount and the impact that will have when they go onto a higher priced system. We are now ensuring that you can compare the information, because we know that the biggest discount doesn't necessarily mean the best deal. We also know that the lowest income households, those on hardship programs, will not lose their discount or their benefits as a result of a nonpayment.

I am asked: are there any obstacles to this approach? We know that those opposite, when it came to their time in government, were asleep at the wheel, because the Labor Party gave us that dreaded carbon tax. The Labor Party gave us 'cash for clunkers'. The Labor Party gave us the citizens' assembly. What was most punishing for households, families, pensioners and businesses was that the Labor Party gave us, on their watch, more than a 100 per cent increase in power prices. Now they want to take the big experiment in South Australia national. The member for Port Adelaide should know better, because the cost to his own state has been enormous in terms of jobs, confidence and investment, and in terms of that State's standing throughout the rest of the country. We have taken decisive, concrete action on a number of fronts, and that is going to see lower prices for Australian households and families, thanks to the work of the Turnbull government.

Mark Butler (Port Adelaide, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Water) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. The CEO of Energy Consumers Australia said this morning: 'There is a real issue of governments coming together and implementing the Finkel report—all 50 recommendations. That is work that has to be completed to really settle this sector down for consumers.' When will the Prime Minister stand up to members in his party room and implement a clean energy target, as recommended by the Finkel review?

Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Measure after measure has been taken by my government to address the energy mess left us by the Labor Party. We have been left with a shocking failure of policy by the Labor Party. What about gas? Let's think about this for a minute. The largest driver of electricity prices going up at the moment is the price of gas on the east coast. A federal Labor government and a Queensland state Labor government, together, allowed a massive export facility to be built at Gladstone without any regard for the consequences for the domestic market. The consequences of that has been that the domestic market was short of gas because the exporters were taking gas out of the domestic market to fulfil their export contracts. The consequence was, because gas is the marginal fuel source in the electricity market, a massive increase in electricity prices. It has put manufacturing businesses, which require gas as a feedstock or for heating, at risk. What we have done is taken strong action to limit exports; that is already seeing a reduction in the spot price of gas. The only reason we had to do that is because of the complete mindlessness, stupidity and complacency on the part of the Labor Party. What were they thinking? Well, I will tell you: they weren't thinking at all. That is the whole problem with the Labor Party. They do not plan. It is all ideology and politics—no economics, no engineering. That's how the honourable member's state got into the challenges it now faces with the most expensive and the least reliable energy in Australia. I have to say to the honourable member: the last group of people we will take lectures from on energy policy are the South Australian Labor Party. They've created the highest electricity prices and the least reliable electricity in the OECD. What an outstanding achievement for Labor ideology!