Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Both sides of parliament support gas export controls. Despite the Deputy Prime Minister, as minister for resources, having the power to—

Government Members:

Government members interjecting—

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

The Leader of the Opposition will resume his seat. Members on my right! The member for Goldstein! Members will cease interjecting.

Mr Dutton interjecting—

Mr Hunt interjecting—

The Minister for Immigration and Border Protection! The Minister for Health is warned. The Leader of the Opposition will begin his question again.

Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thanks, Mr Speaker. My question is still to the Prime Minister. Both sides of parliament support gas export controls, but, despite the Deputy Prime Minister, as minister for resources, having the power to do so, the government has refused to make the necessary ministerial determination. Is the government refusing to act because of the serious legal risk that the Deputy Prime Minister's ministerial actions might be challenged in the courts? Why are doubts about his deputy standing in the way of lower power prices for all Australians?

Opposition members interjecting—

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

There are cheers from the opposition benches, cheering on the member for Port Adelaide's confession. I think it's very important to encourage people to fess up. He confessed. Normally confession is a private sacrament.

Ms Butler interjecting—

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

The member for Griffith is warned.

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

But on this occasion the honourable member did the right thing, and he owned up.

Ms Butler interjecting—

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

The member for Griffith has been warned.

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

Mr Speaker, really! This wins the prize for gall from the Leader of the Opposition. This is the man who was a minister in a government that was warned that allowing unrestricted exports from the east coast would result—they were warned more than four years ago. They were warned, and they took no notice. This opposition, in government, failed the Australian people. What they did was let the Australian people down, and then the member for Port Adelaide did not tell the truth about it. I'm afraid he didn't. He was asked by Barrie Cassidy back in April whether he got plenty of advice back when they were in government, in 2012, that the surge in exports would lead to these problems, and what the member—

Honourable members interjecting—

Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I raise a point of order on direct relevance. The question asks why the Deputy Prime Minister has not used a power that's available to him.

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

The Manager of Opposition Business will resume his seat. I will address his point of order in a second, but he has given me the opportunity to warn members about the obvious level of noise in the chamber. I'm not going to keep repeating myself. I will simply eject members. The level of noise is far too high. The member for Griffith has already been warned. Those who have been regularly warned should be on stand-by to leave the chamber if they are going to disrupt it.

On the point of order: the Manager of Opposition Business is right that that was an aspect of the question, but the preamble related to energy policy. I refer him to my earlier rulings. The Prime Minister is in order.

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

Thanks, Mr Speaker. I can only say to the Manager of Opposition Business, who is chairman of the opposition tactics committee, that the time to save the Leader of the Opposition from that catastrophic question was before he put it into the pack. It's too late now. Getting back to the confession from the member for Port Adelaide—

Mr Dreyfus interjecting—

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

The member for Isaacs is warned.

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

He said, 'We didn't get any advice.' But, of course, they did: from AEMO and from the energy white paper. Then, of course, he finally fessed up under interrogation from David Speers.

Ms Plibersek interjecting—

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

The member for Sydney is warned.

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

This is what we've done. We've foreshadowed the controls that we are going to put on gas exports, and we have seen wholesale prices already decline. Short-term prices, on average, across the country were $8.61 a gigajoule in July, compared to just under $12 a year ago. Prices have fallen in all east coast markets. Honourable members will have seen additional gas is coming onto the market. Our policy is working. When all of the material is together, the minister will make the appropriate declaration—fully informed when he does.