Julia Banks (Chisholm, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Will the Prime Minister update the House on what the government is doing to put downward pressure on energy prices and ensure reliability, including in my electorate of Chisholm? Is the Prime Minister aware of any threats to the government's approach?

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

Honourable members know that the government is focused on the issues that matter to Australians: jobs and the economy, national security and energy security. Everything we're doing is aimed at putting downward pressure on energy prices and ensuring that families and businesses can get affordable and reliable electricity and energy. We have already secured a better deal for thousands of Australian families from their energy retailers. I heard the Leader of the Opposition mocking that today. Can you believe that? A $400, $500, $600 a year saving—that's a laughing matter for him. It's a trivial sum of money, apparently. It's a big deal for thousands of Australian families. Since our meetings with the energy retailers and since we gave this issue profile, there have been over 300,000 visits to the Energy Made Easy website. As honourable members would be very well aware, there are thousands of examples of Australians getting reductions in their energy bill because they were paying too much. So that's right there in the here and now.

Gas prices: I've just spoken about the mess the Labor Party left us in and took a long time to tell the truth about. With what we have done we've already seen wholesale gas prices come down.

Mr Hammond interjecting—

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

The member for Perth will leave under standing order 94(a).

The member for Perth then left the chamber.

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

In terms of a medium-term measure, one of the important things the Labor Party could do if they were fair dinkum about energy prices is support our reform to abolish limited merits review. That's already come through the House. My recollection is that they didn't oppose it. Instead of passing that rapidly through the Senate so that the big energy companies the Leader of the Opposition was so strong in his criticism of this morning—he was a lion on AM this morning about the energy companies but a pussycat when he was in government a few years ago—

Mr Rob Mitchell interjecting—

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

The member for McEwen is warned.

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

He could do long-suffering consumers a favour. He could ensure that that bill goes through the Senate, and then the owners of the networks will not be able to game the system by taking appeals from the Energy Regulator, because we know the consequence of those appeals has invariably been to impose billions of dollars of extra costs on consumers. So Labor have to decide whether they are going to support us as we support the Australian public for more affordable and more reliable electricity or continue on their ideological and idiotic approach to energy—something that Australians are still paying too high a price for. (Time expired)

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. Power prices have never been higher than they have been under this government. The Prime Minister used to acknowledge that the fastest way to bring down power prices was to act on gas. Is the reason the government has refused to make the necessary ministerial determination to put gas export controls in place because there are serious legal doubts about any ministerial actions from the Deputy Prime Minister? Are doubts about his deputy standing in the way of lower power prices for Australians?

Mr Frydenberg interjecting—

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

The Minister for the Environment and Energy will cease interjecting.

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

It's good to see the member for Port Adelaide front up again and offer his apologies for his shameful conduct and his party's shameful conduct in government.

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

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

They can wave around their agendas as much as they like—

Ms Plibersek interjecting—

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

I've warned the member for Sydney several times. She can leave under 94(a). The member for Sydney needs to leave immediately.

The member for Sydney then left the chamber .

The level of noise is far too high. I will lower the volume in this manner if it continues. I'm not going to have members, no matter how senior, be warned and continually ignore me. If anyone has any doubt they've been warned, they can approach the Clerk's table.

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

The coalition, under the leadership of the member for Warringah, was elected four years ago and, during that time, we have seen the carbon tax abolished; we have seen action on energy prices; we've seen action on schools; we've seen action on industrial reforms; and we've seen action on national security.

The failures we saw under Labor government resulted in a 100 per cent increase in energy prices. Most recklessly of all, what we saw under Labor was a rush into renewables without any backup or any storage. The Leader of the Opposition today said, criticised, that the coalition has an ideological objection to renewables. The objection we have is to Labor's stupidity, Labor incompetence, Labor complacency and the stupidity of a party that—despite warnings from the regulators, from the Energy Market Operator, that allowing unrestricted export of gas from the east coast would result in tighter supply and higher prices—did nothing to protect the Australian domestic market. It did nothing at all, and now we are having to take unprecedented measures to restrict exports to defend Australian consumers and businesses that were abandoned by Labor.

But it gets worse: Labor failed to recognise that the wind doesn't blow all the time and the sun doesn't shine all the time—you'd think they might have picked that up!—so had more renewables replacing dispatchable base-load coal-fired power. And what's been the result? There's been a shortage of dispatchable power. So, once again, that failure of policy under the Labor Party, enhanced and amplified by Labor state governments, is being cleaned up by the coalition. We are the ones taking the tough decisions to ensure that Australians have affordable and reliable energy. Across the House is the party of blackouts. That is the party of unaffordable electricity. That is the party that puts manufacturing workers out of jobs. (Time expired)