Damian Drum (Murray, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Labor's policies on energy are nothing short of ludicrous—in fact, they would be more ludicrous if they actually had a decent policy. But there is nothing reliable or affordable about Labor's stance on energy. They bow purely to the whims of the Greens, Lock the Gate and GetUp!. A stark example of Labor's lack of understanding is the fact that they have no idea about how they are letting down industry and households.

One example of this is the Andrews Labor government in Victoria, which tripled the royalties on coal the minute they came to government. That was a $252 million impost on coal. The Treasurer of the day, Tim Pallas, said that the changes would result in a very small impact on the electricity prices faced by Victorian families. He didn't even realise that this increase by tripling the royalties on coal was going to have such a detrimental effect on ENGIE's decision to shut down Hazelwood. We know that Hazelwood shut down later this year. Because of Daniel Andrews' tax grab, Victorian energy prices have soared by 22 per cent.

And then we come to gas: a full ban on exploration or extraction of gas. We don't even know in Victoria what we don't know. The minister down there has said that despite some claims, there is no proved or probable onshore gas reserves in Victoria. The very day he said that, Geoscience Australia said that we've got more gas in Victoria than we've ever had. (Time expired)