Adam Bandt (Melbourne, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. After the government scrapped the carbon price, pollution went up. It went up in 2015, again in 2016, and this year too, making climate change worse. Over that time, wholesale electricity prices have doubled too. Prime Minister, instead of letting the climate deniers dictate your energy policy by legislating to ensure coal-fired power stays in the system longer, wouldn't it be better to reregulate electricity prices, introduce an energy storage target and increase the Renewable Energy Target so that we cut pollution, cut power bills and keep the lights on?

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

I hate to remind the member for Melbourne that, when they were in coalition with the Labor government when they were last in power, power prices increased by 100 per cent. That was the Greens legacy. The confected moral outrage from the Greens when it comes to climate policy is amazing. When members on this side of the House were dealing with their constituents who were dealing with Cyclone Debbie and when members on this side of the House were dealing with their constituents who were dealing with the fires in Sydney, who was out there on their soap box blaming climate change? The member for Melbourne, and that was disgraceful. That was absolutely disgraceful. It might be an inconvenient truth for the member for Melbourne that emissions in Australia are at their lowest level in 27 years, in terms of GDP and per capita—the lowest level in 27 years. Even electricity sector emissions have been falling in the last two quarters.

The member for Melbourne refers to storage. It was this government, the Turnbull government, that for the first time put the issue of storage at the top of the policy agenda. What did the Labor Party in South Australia do about storage? Nothing. Now they have to spend $110 million on diesel generators that don't work when it's hot. They have to take more coal than before from Victoria across to the Heywood interconnector and they have to spend hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayers' money building a new gas-fired power station. What did the Labor Party ever do about storage? What did the Greens ever say about storage? That is why, on this side of the House, we've invested more than $200 million in a vast array of projects on storage and we're investing in Snowy 2.0. At the end of the day, if the lights don't stay on, there's no point in reducing emissions. Our focus is on reliability and affordability while staying true to our international commitments. That is why we've commissioned expert advice from AEMO and from the ACCC, and it's on that advice that we have been acting to lower people's power prices.

Chris Crewther (Dunkley, 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 hardworking Australian families and businesses like those in my electorate of Dunkley have a secure and affordable gas supply? Are there 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 Dunkley for his question. I know he is deeply committed to lowering the power bills of his constituents and ensuring a more reliable supply. That is why we've taken action on a number of fronts, recognising there is no single silver bullet to lower power prices. As the Prime Minister mentioned, we have been successful in passing through the Senate the abolition of the limited merits review process. In Labor's own election document in 2016, they said, 'Power bills have skyrocketed and this has been a result of massive investments in networks, poles and wires.' But what did they do when they were in government? Absolutely nothing. That is why we have now abolished the limited merits review process. The work we have done with retailers can save a household a thousand dollars or more, by simply changing retailers or changing contracts. Investment in storage is another important reform in order to reduce the volatility that has been driving up power prices.

When it comes to gas, the Labor Party did nothing when they were in office. The member for Port Adelaide has now admitted that they knew power prices would rise as a result of the tight supply on the east coast due to setting up the export of large amounts of gas without the necessary supply for the domestic market. So we spoke to AEMO and we spoke to the ACCC, and we received their advice about what would be required to ensure that there are no domestic shortfalls in 2018 and 2019. We were told that there could potentially be a shortfall of 107 petajoules in 2018 and 102 petajoules in 2019.

As a result of the work we did, we were able to secure agreement from the gas companies to ensure that there won't be those shortfalls in those years. But the long-term solution is to get more gas out of the ground. That will occur only if the states develop their gas. The Northern Territory is sitting on 200 years worth of supply. The Andrews government is sitting on 40 years worth of supply. In New South Wales, if Narrabri were developed, it could provide up to 50 per cent of New South Wales's gas. And the Chief Scientist himself has made it very clear that you can develop unconventional gas resources in a scientifically proven and environmentally sustainable way on a case-by-case basis.

So I say to the Labor Party: use your good offices with your Labor comrades in the other states. Get their support for lifting these bans and moratoriums. But they're only costing jobs and they're only sending prices higher, and as a result of our interventions in the market—

Mr Stephen Jones interjecting—

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

Member for Whitlam!

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

we are doing more every day to secure lower gas prices for Australian families and businesses.

Mr Stephen Jones interjecting—

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

The member for Whitlam will cease interjecting.

Tanya Plibersek (Sydney, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister has said that a clean energy target would 'certainly work', that 'there is no question it would work'. Does the Prime Minister stand by that statement or has the member for Warringah been drafted to lead the government in developing a new energy policy?

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

I thank the honourable member for her question. There are many approaches to energy policy that can work. The question is about ensuring that you adopt the best. That's the task of government: to get beyond the slogans and the three-letter acronyms that honourable members opposite don't understand and to have a policy that works—and have the one that works best. That's our commitment—engineering and economics, not three-letter acronyms and terms that honourable members opposite can laugh about but do not understand.

Mark Coulton (Parkes, Deputy-Speaker) 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 outline to the House steps the government has taken to alleviate energy prices that threaten the ongoing growth in the agriculture sector? And is he aware of any alternative approaches?

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 understand the concerns he would have on alternative policies, such as a 45 per cent emissions reduction target—

Ms Plibersek interjecting—

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

The member for Sydney will cease interjecting.

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

which would actually put blue-collar workers out of a job, and such as the 50 per cent renewable target by the Labor Party which would put blue-collar workers out of a job, and this ridiculous process of net zero emissions by 2050. There'll be net zero jobs by 2050 under the Labor Party! I can understand how the member for Parkes would be standing up for his people—the people of Cobar, the people of Gilgandra, the people of Wilcannia, the people of Dubbo, the people of Bogan—

Opposition members interjecting—

I can understand why they would start making fun of Bogan, because they've turned their back on all the working class people. They now think working class people are a bit of a joke, something to be made fun of. That's the sort of people they are. They've also turned their back on the people of Blacktown, the people of Ipswich and the people of Geelong. And the Leader of the Opposition turns his back on this parliament every day. But we have a plan, for the honourable member for Parkes. We believe there should be better transferability between retailers. We brought that process into effect. The Prime Minister, the energy minister, the Treasurer and I brought that into effect.

We believe in coal-fired power. We really do. We believe in coal-fired power more than the member for Hunter, who has given up on coal workers and power workers, and more than the member for Shortland. I've seen your polling—your polling's gone through the floor. I've seen what happens to the blue-collar workers. They know that the Labor Party no longer represents them. The member for Herbert just sits back idly as jobs go off. She doesn't stand up for the people of Townsville. She no longer believes in the people of Townsville. They've given up on Augathella for Annandale, Bourke for Balmain and St George for St Kilda. They only have one idea: they want rebates.

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

The Deputy Prime Minister will resume his seat. 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, you know our view on whether he should be speaking at all. If he's going to speak, he should be relevant to the question.

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

The Deputy Prime Minister is being relevant to the question.

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

The reality is that we need cheaper power for irrigation and we need cheaper power for meat processing. We still believe that blue-collar workers deserve a job. The Labor Party now believes that blue-collar workers are politically incorrect. We see the Labor Party come forward and talk about targets that are going to put working men and women out of a job, shut down the manufacturing industry and put more people out of a job. We are doing everything in our power to try and keep these people. You can either have cheap power or cheap wages and no jobs. We believe in cheap power and we're going to bring it about.