Luke Howarth (Petrie, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is also to the Minister for the Environment and Energy. Will the minister please update the House on action the government is taking to ensure there is enough baseload power to deliver not just affordable but also reliable energy supplies to Australian families and businesses that employ Australians? Is the minister aware of any alternative approaches?

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

I thank the member for Petrie for his question, and I acknowledge his focus on getting affordable and reliable power. That's why he supports the actions of the Turnbull government to ensure more gas for domestic users, to rein in the power of the network companies and the pole and wire companies, and also to ensure that the retailers offer millions of Australian households a better deal. We're in possession of the Australian Energy Market Operator's report, which indicates a supply shortfall were Liddell to close in 2022. That's why we began discussions with the company AGL.

On this side of the House, we understand the importance of coal to the energy mix. We understand the importance of keeping these assets going for longer. The Labor Party, on the other hand, wants to close coal-fired power stations. The Leader of the Opposition will say in this parliament that coal has no future in Australia, but then he will go and put the high-vis vest on and say, 'Coal has a future in Australia.'

Mr Fitzgibbon interjecting—

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

The member for Hunter will cease interjecting.

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

But he's not the only one who will say one thing to blue-collar workers and then say another thing to the Canberra press gallery pack, because the member for Hunter has said on the white flag he will not support the workers at Liddell. Guess what the member for Hunter says in his own electorate? Guess what the member for Hunter wrote in the Newcastle Herald earlier this year? Listen carefully. This is what the member for Hunter said:

The coal industry remains strong and it can continue to count on my energetic support. So too can those who keep our coal-fired electricity generators humming, our lights on, fridges cold and our manufacturing plants and other businesses running.

So, Member for Hunter, which one is it? Is it your energetic support to keep coal-fired power plants humming, or is it supporting your Leader of the Opposition and motions in the Senate to close down our coal-fired power stations? You can't have it both ways. You're being dishonest with the Australian people. You're telling your electorate and the workers one thing, and in this House you are supporting another. This goes to the heart of the Leader of the Opposition's lack of understanding about what comprises the energy market and how important thermal synchronous baseload dispatchable power is to the system.

Mr Fitzgibbon interjecting—

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

The member for Hunter is now warned.

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

Only the coalition can deliver lower energy prices and a more stable system. The Labor Party, with its record of doubling electricity prices and its sellout of blue collar workers across the country, has joined the Greens in a policy for a less stable energy system.

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

My question is to the Prime Minister. The government is now in its fifth year in office. In that time, seven coal-fired power stations have closed, removing over 4,000 megawatts of capacity. This is equivalent to nearly six million households' power, or more than enough energy to power every home in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Why has the government done nothing to replace the energy which has been progressively switched off since 2013?

Mr Chester interjecting—

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

The Minister for Infrastructure and Transport will cease interjecting. He's in an unfortunate spot. He's yelling into my ear as I try to hear the question.

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

The only complaint the Labor Party has had about the closure of coal-fired power stations is that there haven't been more of them. They've wanted to close more of them, and more frequently.

I made the observation earlier that the great mistake that has been made in energy policy has been to replace dispatchable baseload coal-fired power with variable renewable power. In the course of doing that, not one person on the Labor side in government, either in the federal government when they were here or in state governments, paid attention to the need for storage or backup. No attention was paid to that at all. It is my government that has set out to build the largest battery in the Southern Hemisphere, Snowy Hydro 2.0, which will make renewables reliable.

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

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

I hear all the laughing and carry-on on the other side. The Leader of the Opposition described Snowy Hydro 2.0, the largest single renewable project in the country's history since Snowy 1, as 'just a stunt for helicopter trips'.

Mark Dreyfus (Isaacs, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Attorney General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That's right!

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

There he is! The member for Isaacs calls out, 'That's right!' That's the vision you've got in the Labor Party.

So, basically, the Labor Party have learnt nothing about energy. Every step we've taken to benefit Australian consumers, they've either sneered at or opposed. When we called in the electricity retailers and secured, for thousands of Australian families, cuts of hundreds of dollars in their electricity bills, that was a 'stunt'. When we took action on gas, they claimed they had no responsibility for creating the problem until they finally fessed up to it.

And what about the limited merits review? This is a very interesting one. This is a case where the energy companies, the owners of the poles and wires, have been appealing to the courts, with the privilege not granted to other utilities, to get their rates that they can charge up and above what the regulator says. It has resulted in over $6 billion of higher charges. It's plainly wrong. We've brought in legislation to abolish it. Labor actually said they supported it. But, when it got to the Senate, what did they do? They kicked it off to a committee. They could have passed it through the Senate and given relief immediately.

Ms Plibersek interjecting—

And then, when we go to AGL and say, 'Look, the most obvious way to avoid this blackout, to avoid Australians having to pay this blackout bill, is to keep that power station going for longer', they attack us over that too. They have no plan and no vision for Australia's energy. (Time expired)

Ms Plibersek interjecting—

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

I have asked the member for Sydney to cease interjecting on a number of occasions, as I do most days. She is now warned.

Melissa Price (Durack, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Health, representing the Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science. I refer the minister to recent media reports showing the Western Australian government's ban on gas. Will the minister outline to the House why energy security is vital for business and jobs, and explain what risks this reckless policy might have?

Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Minister for Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to thank the member for Durack, who not only represents an electorate that is one of the great natural resource powerhouses of the world but also voted for lower electricity and gas prices when she voted to abolish the carbon tax along with every member on our side and against the wishes of every member on that side.

Today we heard a very interesting thing: the Leader of the Opposition, after long support for the Andrews government's ban on gas exploration in Victoria went wonky at the knees. It was a bit like his visit to the Australian Christian Lobby before the 2013 election.

Mr Brian Mitchell interjecting—

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

The member for Lyons is warned!

Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Minister for Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

He indicated that perhaps he might not be so in favour of their ban on gas.

Victoria has a complete ban on gas exploration; however, only last week we saw a new ban on gas exploration by WA Labor. It joins the Northern Territory Labor government, which has put in a ban on gas exploration, and they both join the Victorian ban on onshore gas exploration. And so there's a very simple proposition for the Leader of the Opposition: if he actually supports gas, he should move now to say to the Victorian government, to the Northern Territory government and to the Western Australian government that they should allow gas exploration.

What is it that the Chamber of Minerals and Energy of Western Australia has stated?

This decision threatens the reputation of the resources industry, as well as jobs and economic prosperity across the entire state.

The small business ombudsman has said:

The states need to stop grandstanding and get on board with a national approach.

And we heard from Adam Creighton, not long ago:

The Victorian Labor government's proposed ban on gas exploration will shut off gas reserves big enough to supply the east coast of Australia's gas needs for almost 40 years.

So what we have is a ban on gas exploration across Labor states. We have support for gas on our side. We also have the Prime Minister's energy plan, which deals with storage, deals with supply and deals with retail. Compare that, though—all of what the states have done is nothing compared with what a 45 per cent emissions reduction target under the Leader of the Opposition would deliver. That is a recipe for one thing: a massive electricity and gas tax. If we have seen damage from Labor states so far, that compares in not one jot to what we would see under the Leader of the Opposition's plan for higher electricity and gas prices. So, at the end of the day we voted to bring gas and electricity prices down, and they voted to put them up. (Time expired)

Pat Conroy (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. The government is now in its fifth year in office. In that time, the government has lost the equivalent of power supply for nearly six million households, with seven coal-fired power stations closing, including the Wallerawang Power Station in New South Wales, which had up to 1,000 megawatts of capacity. Why is the Prime Minister incapable of making a decision on energy? Why is the Prime Minister letting the chaos and division of this government stand in the way of solving the energy crisis?

Mr Falinski interjecting—

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

The member for Mackellar will cease interjecting.

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

Well, it's good to hear from the member for Shortland again, on the subject of coal-fired power stations—

Dr Mike Kelly interjecting—

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

The Prime Minister will just pause for a second. I couldn't have been more clear with the member for Eden-Monaro. He will leave under 94(a).

The member for Eden-Monaro then left the chamber.

The Prime Minister will continue.

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

Yes, the member for Shortland is running a very tight race with the member for Hunter to see who is the best collaborator with and apologist for Andy Vesey and AGL. In responding to the proposition that Liddell might be sold to somebody who would keep it running—a possibility that the CEO of AGL agreed to, and said that yes, he would be prepared to sell it to a responsible party; he said that in a room full of many people, including quite a few cabinet ministers, so there's no question he said that—in trying to discount that, the member for Shortland, in his role as a PR flack for AGL, said:

We need to think about the logistics; Bayswater and Liddell power stations are right next to each other. They share the same coal mine—

Mr Conroy interjecting—

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

The member for Shortland has asked his question. The member for Shortland will cease interjecting.

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

He said:

They share infrastructure, they share the same water resource—is it practical that we have two different companies running those power plants?

Well, of course, if you want to make sure there's less competition, you certainly wouldn't want them being run by two different companies.

It is extraordinary to see the member for Hunter and the member for Shortland, who represent all of these workers in the power industry and all of these workers in the coalmining industry, becoming these extraordinary apologists for AGL—a company that they know is the prime beneficiary of tight supply of power. The honourable member for Isaacs obviously can't read his own electricity bill, let alone anyone else's.

You know, what we have succeeded in doing is bringing down gas prices. And wholesale electricity prices are starting to come down because gas has come down. So the actions my government is taking are putting downward pressure on prices. What we're looking out for are actions by big generators in shutting down plants which would have the same effect as the closure of Hazelwood did. So this is no more than prudent government, looking after the interests of Australians, as opposed to looking after the shareholders of big energy companies.