Tony Pasin (Barker, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction. Will the minister please update the House on how securing affordable, reliable energy for families and businesses in my electorate of Barker will secure our future post the COVID-19 pandemic?

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

I thank the member for Barker for his question and for his steadfast commitment to affordable, reliable energy for businesses across his electorate. Those are businesses like the Naracoorte Hotel-Motel, which I hope to visit again in the not-too-distant future—businesses that need affordable and reliable energy to secure their future post the pandemic.

Of course, the member knows that our plan is working. Our default market offer has delivered businesses in electorates like his and right across South Australia up to $2,800 in reduction in prices for electricity. Under the default market offer in South Australia, households have $700 a year in savings. Under this government, we've seen the lowest wholesale prices in nine years. We've secured the fuel South Australians need to keep things moving. We're securing investment and facilitating investment in transmission like the PEC project.

But we also need to make sure our electricity grid is fit for the future. Last year alone, we saw seven gigawatts of renewable capacity invested. That's the equivalent of four large coal-fired power stations in one year. And with that, whilst there's very significant reduction in emissions, there are also challenges. We need to balance investment in dispatchable capacity. That's why we're driving reforms in the National Electricity Market. We're making sure there are essential systems and services in place, the right investment in transmission infrastructure and, of course, incentives to invest in dispatchable capacity.

There's strong support for these reforms. Matt Howell, CEO of Tomago Aluminium, the largest user of energy in Australia, has welcomed the reforms and said:

It's that reliability key—it matters for everybody. But it matters even more for aluminium smelters.

The AWU secretary, Dan Walton, has welcomed the changes, saying they were needed to avoid catastrophic outcomes for Australian manufacturers. The CFMEU national president, Tony Maher, echoed those sentiments, saying, 'You cannot have a Hazelwood situation repeated across the country.' As the Energy Security Board chair, Kerry Schott, has said, these reforms will stop price spikes. She has dubbed opponents to the changes 'crazy'. These reforms are an essential part of securing the energy market now and into the future. And on this side of the House we all, like the member for Barker, are absolutely committed to the affordable, reliable energy Australians need as we come out of the pandemic.