Trevor Evans (Brisbane, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Energy. Will the minister update the House on how our government's plan for affordable, reliable power is helping to drive down energy prices? And is the minister aware of any alternative approaches that could drive up power prices for families and small businesses?

Angus Taylor (Hume, Liberal Party, Minister for Energy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Brisbane for his question. He fights every day for the families and small businesses in his electorate, and they are families and small businesses, like all families and small businesses around Australia, who will benefit from this government's plan for reliable, affordable electricity—a plan announced by the Prime Minister this morning. Our plan is focused on reducing prices while we keep the lights on, and that means stopping the price gouging by the big energy companies. It means setting a fair price safety net, to be in place by 1 July with a down payment by 1 January. It means backing new investment in reliable generation with a shortlist of projects by early next year. And it requires energy companies to invest in fair dinkum reliable generation at least three years ahead to meet customer needs, and that will be in place by 1 July next year.

For too long, customers have taken a back seat to corporate greed and dodgy market practices. Well, we're banning the sneaky late payments. We're getting rid of the loyalty tax. In South-East Queensland, in the member's electorate, households can save $370 or more by shopping around. That's why the price safety net is so important. But not everybody has the time to shop around, so we need this important reform for every customer in the market. Later this year, we'll introduce a big-stick legislative package into this parliament, and that will include divestment and other powers for the Treasurer and for the ACCC.

The member asked about an alternative. There is an alternative, because we have seen it before. The plan of those opposite is a 45 per cent emissions reduction target and a 50 per cent RET, and it will require a huge tax on every energy consumer, greater than their previous carbon tax. It will drive up prices, just like in Labor's experiment in South Australia, as I saw last week when I was in Blackwood in South Australia with the member for Boothby, where we saw amongst the highest electricity prices in the world and the highest electricity prices in Australia—an experiment from a Labor government. Those opposite just don't get it. Labor is busy second-guessing technologies decades from now. We are focused on getting prices down.