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 action the government is taking to ensure that Australian families and businesses have a reliable and affordable energy supply? 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 Banks for his question. I know that he is deeply concerned about the pressure that households and businesses are facing by a less stable and higher priced electricity system. He is working to do everything possible to bring downward pressure on prices. That's why he supports the actions that we've taken on this side of the House, whether it's to ensure more gas is available to the domestic market, or whether it's reigning in the powers of the pole and wire companies with the abolition of the Limited Merits Review, which Labor sees fit to send to committee, or whether it's the actions and the concessions that we have received from the retailers, which will allow Australian families and businesses to get a better deal.

I am asked, are there any alternative views? We know that the Leader of the Opposition and the member for Port Adelaide have bumbled, have fumbled and have stumbled on the key question: what would they do with existing coal-fired power stations? We know that on that side of the House they have a policy to close Australia's coal-fired power stations. We know that they have sold out blue-collar workers in order to win green votes in the city. We know when the member for Port Adelaide was asked numerous times what he would do—keep them open or close them—he dodged and he weaved. He wouldn't answer. The piece de resistance was when the member for Port Adelaide went on Lateline. When he was asked by Emma Alberici, 'What would Labor do with the coal-fired power stations in Australia if you were in the same position as the Turnbull government?' He said, 'Well, we would put all the options on the table.' I thought this was a rare show of bipartisanship, but then Emma Alberici asked the next question: 'Can you just give me a yes or a no?' The member for Port Adelaide said, 'No.' Emma Alberici then asked him a very simple question: 'Why not?' The member for Port Adelaide said, 'No, I can't give you a yes or a no.' That's because the member for Port Adelaide wants a multiple choice question. He wants to say one thing to the blue-collar workers, he wants say another thing to the green voters, whose support he wants, and he wants to say a third thing to the press gallery. He can't give a simple yes or no answer on whether they would support existing coal-fired power stations. That's because the Labor Party is the party of higher electricity prices.

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. Since this government came into office power bills have gone up by $1,000 for the average Sydney household. That figure is based on data from the government's own Australian Energy Regulator and the Australian Energy Market Commission, reported in The Australian newspaper. Why is the Prime Minister refusing to admit that power prices have never been higher than they have been under this government? Everyone else knows it. Why won't the Prime Minister admit it?

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

The member for Port Adelaide is making up more numbers, because we know that power prices increased by 100 per cent under him. The member for Port Adelaide should know better. Do you know why? Because in his own electorate Adelaide Brighton, which has 450 workers, lost power for 36 hours when South Australia had a blackout.

Mr Dreyfus interjecting—

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

The member for Isaacs is warned!

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

We know that Adelaide Brighton, the company in his own electorate that employs hundreds of people, had to book a $13 million penalty or price because of that blackout. That is the price of Labor's reckless policies.

It takes some kind of genius, that the member for Port Adelaide must be, to describe the energy policy in South Australia as 'a hiccup'. He described it as 'a hiccup'. This is a policy that has led to more than half a billion dollars in expenses in South Australia when they had a statewide blackout. This is a policy that led Premier Jay Weatherill to spend $110 million on diesel generators that use 80,000 litres an hour and, during the peak summer months when they are supposed to be used, don't work when the temperature is hot. That is the Labor policy. It takes some kind of genius in South Australia to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on a new gas-fired power station.

The Prime Minister might be interested to know that when the Northern Power Station was open in South Australia, South Australia only got 12 per cent of its brown coal-fired power energy from Victoria through the Heywood interconnector in 2014-15. But in 2016-17, after the closure of the Northern Power Station, how much brown coal did you get from Victoria in South Australia? Twenty per cent! The Labor Party's policy is to follow Jay Weatherill in South Australia, who gave them: diesel generators that don't work when the sun is out, diesel generators that use 80,000 litres an hour, gas-fired power stations that have to be built by the government and more coal-fired power from Victoria than when the Northern Power Station was in operation. That is what the green policies of the Labor Party look like.

The member for Port Adelaide should know better, because a company in his own electorate, where hundreds of workers are employed, had a blackout, which has cost that company its own money. The member for Port Adelaide should look in his own backyard before asking questions in this place about the price of power.

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

Is the member for Port Adelaide is seeking leave to table a document?

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

I am seeking leave to table copies of the data reported in The Australian newspaper that the minister says doesn't exist.

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

Is the article from The Australian newspaper?

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

Yes, it is.

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

I've made clear on numerous occasions we are not going to—

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

Mr Speaker, a point of order.

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

Yes, the Manager of Opposition Business.

Mr Pyne interjecting—

Order! The Leader of the House is warned.

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

Mr Speaker, the ruling that you've made previously about articles not being able to be tabled is on the basis that it's accepted they're in the public domain. The minister has just advised the House he doesn't believe it exists. In those circumstances, it's the exact time where it should be allowed to be tabled.

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

The Manager of Opposition Business will resume his seat. I think you're quibbling, but I will just be quick. Is leave granted?

Leave not granted.

Andrew Gee (Calare, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources and Minister for Resources and Northern Australia. Will the Deputy Prime Minister update the House on the importance to agricultural industries, including those based in my electorate of Calare, of affordable and reliable energy supply? Is the Deputy Prime Minister aware of any threats to jobs in energy security in my home state of New South Wales?

Barnaby Joyce (New England, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for his question and note that the wine industry is doing spectacular work in the seat of Calare. It's great to see the wine industry will be going from $2.2 billion to $3.5 billion by 2020. A remarkable turnaround in prices, and it has happened under this government. It's one of the sections of remarkable turnarounds in the record-producing agricultural sector, record to our GDP. But in all these things—the wine industry, the beef industry, the sheep industry and the irrigation industry—there is a major threat, and that is the price of power. If you can't lift the water for irrigation, then it doesn't matter what's going down the river; you can't actually irrigate. It doesn't matter what margin you make on the wine industry if it's gobbled up by power prices. Most importantly, the member for Calare would be well aware of those people who live in weatherboard and iron in Orange and Bathurst. How do we actually respect the dignity of their lives by keeping affordable, reliable power so they can maintain the dignity of their lives and maintain their standard of living?

We have seen the threat to that, and no better expose would be that of South Australian Labor. What we saw when South Australian Labor knocked over the Northern power plant—in fact, they blew up the chimney to celebrate it—was a complete fiasco in power prices in South Australia. The lights went out, the lifts stopped, the traffic blocked up and people felt insecure because of Labor Party power policy. And then, if that was not enough, they went to Victoria. And what did we see from the Labor Party of Victoria? The closing down of Hazelwood. What was the effect? It put under pressure manufacturing workers' jobs. It put under pressure, and lost, power workers' jobs. What else did it do? Of course, it put up the price of power. So every person, no matter where they were—whether they were in Wodonga, Mildura or Shepparton—had their lives made worse by the Labor Party in Victoria because they lost money and were put under pressure.

And now federal Labor do not stand by Liddell. We can see this because they're all going for that great title that they now have in the Labor Party. They used to sing Solidarity Forever, but now they're all fighting for the title of 'Basket Weaver No. 1'!

The member for Hunter did a good job last night when he said: 'Andy Vesey and AGL did us all a big favour. They did what no-one else has ever done before.' Well, he's right there: they're doing what no-one else has ever done before, which is to put the member for Hunter's workers out of a job, to put more pressure on manufacturing workers and to put more pressure on coalminers. They don't believe in blue-collar workers anymore.

Then we see the Labor Party policy—this is from Mark Butler, 'Wind Chime No. 2': Labor will introduce—

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

The Deputy Prime Minister will refer to members by their correct titles.

Barnaby Joyce (New England, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

He said that Labor will introduce a framework to kickstart the closure of coal-fired power stations. You can't get any better than that. That is the Labor Party! (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. Just over three months ago, the Prime Minister described the clean energy target this way:

Well it would certainly work, there is no question it would work …

And:

It has a number of virtues, very strong virtues.

And, again:

… it has a lot of merit and as I say we will look at it very favourably …

Prime Minister, will there be a clean energy target, yes or no?

Honourable Members:

Honourable members interjecting—

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

The members on my left! And right! The Minister for Social Services! The Treasurer! I remind the member for Hunter that he has already been warned. The Prime Minister has the call.

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

As I made very clear, we are considering the 50th recommendation of the Finkel review, which is about a clean energy target. What we need to achieve in our policy is to ensure that energy remains affordable—becomes more affordable, in fact—that it becomes more reliable and that we meet our emissions reduction obligations. We have seen that there is a major problem in ensuring reliability. We've seen a big loss in dispatchable power following the closure of Hazelwood and have foreshadowed another big loss from the closure of Liddell, were it to go ahead, in 2022.

The renewable energy target, for example—and the clean energy target is an evolution of the renewable energy target—

Michelle Rowland (Greenway, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Communications) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

An evolution?

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

Well, it is—

Opposition members interjecting—

Mr Speaker, they are able to shout and carry on as much as they like, but it is the facts that make them uncomfortable. The fact is that a clean energy target is an evolution—a refinement, if you like—of a renewable energy target. What the renewable energy target did not do—has not done—is to provide support for the storage and the backup that is required to make renewables reliable.

I know that this is not taken seriously by the Labor Party. The problem, however, is that blackouts and unaffordable power bills are taken seriously by Australians. And they know that they're the ones that have to pay for Blackout Bill. They're the ones that have to pay for the—

Opposition members interjecting—

Well, they do. They do have to pay—

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

The Prime Minister will resume his seat. Has the Prime Minister concluded his answer?

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

Yes.

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

The Manager of Opposition Business on a point of order.

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

Mr Speaker, on Monday you made rulings about people being referred to by their titles. The revisiting of that term, I've got to say, is too cute by half. If we're going to descend the place into name-calling, it's not going to reflect well on anyone in the chamber, including those who engage in it.

Honourable members interjecting—

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

I am very happy to address the chamber, if people cease interjecting. As the Manager of Opposition Business points out, my ruling on Monday, I hope he appreciates, was where I asked the Prime Minister to withdraw, and indeed I sat down the Minister for the Environment and Energy for not referring to members by their correct titles. The Prime Minister was not doing that on that occasion, as you know. I am not in a position as Speaker to rule out language when there is not a breach of the standing order with respect to addressing members by their correct titles. I do make the point, though, that I can only operate within the rules that are here, and it does cut both ways. I make that point.

Mr Albanese interjecting—

The member for Grayndler just might be uncharacteristically quiet for a bit, I think, and we'll move on to the next question.