Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I have received a letter from the honourable member for Fairfax proposing that a definite matter of public importance be submitted to the House for discussion, namely:

The huge increases in energy prices confirmed in the budget and the government's lack of a plan to deal with these energy price increases.

I call upon those honourable members who approve of the proposed discussion to rise in their places.

More than the number of members required by the standing orders having risen in their places—

Ted O'Brien (Fairfax, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Climate Change and Energy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

'BRIEN () (): This week's budget has confirmed something that the Prime Minister has not had the courage to say himself—that is, the Labor Party has broken a promise, a very big promise. We know that the budget was in fact littered with promises being broken. But there's one particular promise I have in mind, and it comes with a number, and that number is 275. That's right. The $275 which was promised, promised by the Labor Party, by the Prime Minister, on no fewer than 97 occasions—a reduction in household power bills by $275. What we saw in this week's budget, in black and white, was that promise being broken. It's a promise broken because we now know that power prices are set to skyrocket—electricity prices by up to 56 per cent and gas prices by 44 per cent. This is, in black and white, confirming what the Prime Minister has been too weak to say here in this chamber, despite the number of questions we on the opposition benches have been asking him. This is a broken promise to the Australian people.

But what's interesting here is that we also have a very divided cabinet within the Albanese government when it comes to how to deal with this issue. There's complete disunity among the cabinet members. We have the Prime Minister of course blaming the coalition. We have the Treasurer blaming Vladimir Putin. We have the industry minister blaming the gas companies. We have the energy minister blaming everyone bar himself, even though he's the one presiding over this mess. But the one thing they are not even talking about is how to fix the problem. They're divided only on one thing—that is, who to blame for their own broken promise; who to blame for the increase in power prices. We know—

Government Members:

Government members interjecting—

Ted O'Brien (Fairfax, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Climate Change and Energy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I take the interjections again blaming the coalition. To those opposite, those on the government benches: we recognise that your party isn't filled with people with a business background, who understand economics, so let me explain this in a different way for you. It's like watching a footy game, and no matter how messy the footy game might look—and there's no doubt the energy market looks messy at times—the most important thing is that you look at the scoreboard. You look at the scoreboard at a footy match. Under the coalition, I'll tell you what that scoreboard said. Under the coalition, that scoreboard said that power prices came down for households by eight per cent. That's what the scoreboard said—under the coalition, prices down. That scoreboard said that, for businesses, prices came down by 10 per cent. It said that, for industry, prices came down by 12 per cent. Guess what's happened. We have had a change of government. There's a new team wearing the Aussie jersey—in fact, it's the Labor Party. What does the scoreboard now say? It says prices are going up. Prices are going through the roof. What's more, their own budget confirms they're going only one way. They're going further up.

This is the budget that the Labor Party claimed would be all about the cost of living. It forgot the part where they had gone to the Australian people and the No. 1 cost-of-living issue they had spoken about was power prices. They were excluded. For those on the government benches who aren't into budgets and economics, go to Budget Paper No. 1 and look up the section called Economic Outlook. Within Economic Outlook there are some pages talking about inflation. The most common theme in that inflation section in the government's budget is the rise of energy prices. You would think that, if a government were to have the cost of living as the centrepiece of its budget, they might actually deal with the primary cause behind that inflation. They had a five-point plan on the cost of living. Guess what they excluded. They excluded energy prices—surprise, surprise! This is despite their promising households and businesses that energy prices would come down by 18 per cent. We know that in the next financial year electricity prices are going to go up by 56 per cent and gas prices are going to up by 44 per cent. This is what they have promised.

As much as the government backbenchers might giggle when the Prime Minister or the Minister for Climate Change and Energy or the Treasurer tries to dodge questions about their broken promise, I can tell you who is not laughing. The Australian people aren't laughing. What about the Australian pensioners and the Australian senior citizens who have had to go through winter and make genuine decisions about whether they eat or keep warm? What about the families who have had to make big decisions as families about the schools the kids go to? This is the feedback that my office is getting because families are struggling. This government knew it, because this government went to the Australian people and promised them it had the solutions. But it has absolutely no solutions.

There is a bigger problem than just the broken promise, but it's related to it. It is this: the Labor Party has based its entire energy policy on an economic model done by Reputex, an economic model that it stands by to this day. That $275 was a key input into all of Labor's policy suites. We know from the budget that that modelling was flawed, and nobody in the Labor Party has been able to stand and defend that model. No-one in the Labor Party can defend the economic model that says prices will come down by $275. This is a serious issue because it is that same economic model which is driving the energy minister's policies—the whole lot of them. So when we are seeing gas being removed from the capacity mechanism it is because of that flawed economic model and the minister who still believes it is going to work. When we see an ongoing demonisation of gas, despite the fact that renewables need gas as a partner, that's on this minister and flawed economic modelling. If anyone on the government benches can stand up during this MPI and explain how that economic model is not flawed, they are welcome to do so. If those opposite cannot, they are telling the Australian people that the entire suite of policies around energy is flawed. Let us not forget that when the government came into this chamber and legislated its 43 per cent reduction in emissions, one of the questions we asked as an opposition was, 'Has the department, has Treasury done economic modelling?' The answer was no. They have done no modelling. Their entire policy is based on an economic model which is flawed.

In the budget what did we see when it came to ensuring that renewables can be supported with dispatchable gas? Nothing. We saw money taken out for gas pipelines. So it's not only going to be removed from the capacity mechanism; there's less money for the pipelines. There's no encouragement for developing gas. The gas basins, whether it be in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, the Northern Territory, are being ignored by this government. But I'll tell you what they did include. An extra $10 million was put in the budget. But you know what that went to? Legal activists, lawyers—lawyers who are actually challenging gas projects.

This is what this government is doing. For every business out there that is struggling, for the Australian Workers' Union, who has told the Australian people and the government that 800,000 jobs are under threat, it is on this government, which has torn apart the policies that were working in this country, that kept the lights on, kept the prices down, kept emissions down—now they're going up—it's based on an absolute dishonesty and a broken promise.

Pat Conroy (Shortland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Defence Industry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's always a pleasure to talk about energy policy in this parliament. Particularly this MPI that goes to energy policy plans. I'm going to give those opposite a bit of a history lesson, They seem to think the Australian people have suffered a round of amnesia in May this year. They seem to think the Australian people have forgotten about the last 9½ years of dysfunction under those opposite.

I'm glad to say the Australian people haven't forgotten. They remember the 9½ long years of chaos and dysfunction. Energy policy is the greatest example of that. Unfortunately households and businesses are experiencing the pain caused from the chaos and dysfunction right now—that chaos and dysfunction that led to 22 energy policies in 9½ years.

I've got some favourites in there. Some of them were spectacular. My favourite was Josh Frydenberg's emissions intensity scheme, a scheme so broadly supported by the then government that it lasted 14 hours. I've almost slept longer than that policy lasted as official government policy. My other favourites: three policies they had in August 2018 over 14 days: NEG 1, NEG 2 and NEG 3. What happened with NEG 3? When it became apparent that it was actually going to pass the House, it was going to be enshrined in law, what did they do? They knocked off Prime Minister Turnbull. Instead of cementing an energy policy that wasn't half bad—it wasn't great but it was a potential solution—they knifed their Prime Minister. They knocked him off and replaced him with a member for Cook.

They're some of my favourites, but I've got two that are extra special in my heart. There's the $1 billion UNGI initiative, which I think the member opposite had something to do with. It promised 3,800 megawatts of new generation. How many megawatts do you think it delivered? 2,000? 1,000? 500? Zero. Zip. Nada. Seriously. The member opposite could have pedalled on an exercise bike and produced more electricity than UNGI delivered for the Australian people at a cost of $1 billion. There's the other one that's my favourite, the leather jacket moment—Snowy Hydro 2.0. It's running 18 months late.

As a result of all this, we've seen 4,000 megawatts of power retired and only 1,000 megawatts of new energy generation come into the system. My own region of the Hunter Valley—the powerhouse of the country—has ageing power stations that have huge reliability issues. These power stations are reaching the natural end of their planned life. This is what their engineers are saying. This isn't politics. These power stations are approaching the end of their planned life, and the companies that own them have said it doesn't make economic sense to upgrade and modify them. But the truth is they're under extreme pressure now because of the coalition government's 9½ years of chaos and dysfunction.

If you want further demonstration of that, you just have to look at what went on in May 2019, when the then minister for energy, now the Shadow Treasurer, promised a cut in wholesale energy prices of 25 per cent, leading to $70 a megawatt hour of wholesale energy prices. He promised that would lead to a 17 per cent cut in retail energy prices. How did he go? Three years on, on the eve of losing the election in May 2022, instead of cutting wholesale energy prices by 25 per cent, they jacked them up by 267 per cent. Missed by that much! Instead of cutting retail energy prices by 17 per cent, retail prices went up by 19 per cent. That's the price rise that the member for Hume hid before the election in one of the most mendacious efforts I've seen in Australian political life. Not only did he hide it from the Australian people before the election but he continues to deceive and to try and hide it right now. He was interviewed by Kieran Gilbert in September and he was asked about this 19 per cent price rise. He was accused of hiding it by changing the law, by signing a regulation, and he said of Chris Bowen to Kieran Gilbert:

He's just wrong. He's talking about a report that was put out by the AER, not by the government. So he should get his facts right. The thing is, Chris Bowen's got none of these facts right.

Kieran Gilbert asked:

That wasn't at your direction, the delay?

Angus Taylor replied:

No. This is a report from the AER, not from the government.

There's only one little problem with that. There's a thing called Hansard and there's a thing called theGazette. And the Gazette has an unfortunate history of recording decisions of the executive council. I've got the regulation, the Competition and Consumer (Industry Code – Electricity Retail) Amendment (Determination) Regulations 2022, and it does literally two things.

Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Who signs it?

Pat Conroy (Shortland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Defence Industry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Who signs it? I'll get to that, Member for McEwen. He's stealing my lines! The member for McEwen is always at least one step ahead of me.

An opposition member interjecting

It doesn't say much for me; no, it doesn't! This regulation does two things. It literally changes two sentences in the act. It omits '1 May' and substitutes 'the first business day after 25 May'. What happened just before 25 May? What was happening then? A tiny thing called a federal election. It omits '56 days' and substitutes '30 days'. And who signed it? I think the member for McEwen knows. Who signed it? Angus Taylor, the member for Hume, the minister for energy. But, no, he didn't cause the delay! That is the level of respect that the coalition has for the Australian people. They hid the 19 per cent power price rise that was occurring under their watch.

This energy policy chaos on the other side has been occurring at the same time as Putin's illegal war in Ukraine. His illegal invasion in Ukraine is driving up gas and coal prices. So families and businesses, unfortunately, have been hit with a double whammy of Vladimir Putin and Angus Taylor, and it's an awful double whammy. In contrast, we're being upfront. We're producing strong measures to put rigour into energy policy and to attack energy prices to provide some certainty for investors. We're reforming the Australian Domestic Gas Security Mechanism. We've put in place new heads of agreement, but, ultimately, the key to reducing pressure on power prices is increasing renewable energy in the grid. Everyone knows the cheapest form of new energy is renewable energy.

I've heard 'It's not' from the member for New England—the gift that keeps on giving. We'll drive the renewable energy into the grid through the $20 billion Rewiring the Nation fund, through $200 million for community batteries, through $100 million for community solar banks and through $62 million of energy efficiency grants from small and medium-sized enterprises. That is our policy—to drive renewable energy into the grid to put downward pressure on energy prices.

That's our policy. What's the policy of those opposite? They are the alternative government, and I'm hoping the opposition leader speaks about this tonight in his budget reply. I hope he's going to be honest with the Australian people. What's their one energy policy? Nuclear power.

Barnaby Joyce (New England, National Party, Shadow Minister for Veterans' Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Nuclear power—three syllables!

Pat Conroy (Shortland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Defence Industry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Nuclear power—that's what the member for Fairfax has in mind. That's what the member for New England is evangelical about. There are only a couple of problems with it. Firstly, it will triple the cost of power in this country, at least. Secondly, I'm yet to find a community that wants to house a nuclear power station. I've got two people opposite me who represent regions close to mine. Here's my question to the member for Page.

He's got plenty of water sources in his electorate. You need plenty of water for a nuclear power station. Does the member for Page want a nuclear power station on the North Coast? Does the member for New England want a nuclear power station in Tamworth?

He said he's happy to have one. Let the record show that the member for New England is happy to have a nuclear power station in Tamworth, or Armidale, or both, perhaps. This is the quality of debate we have from those opposite: smears, lies and policies that will put up power prices and endanger communities. That is what we're facing. Instead, we will have responsible government acting in the national interest. (Time expired)

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As engaging as rigorous debate is, the level of interjections was escalating. Let's try and have a respectful debate.

Barnaby Joyce (New England, National Party, Shadow Minister for Veterans' Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'd like to start with a quote from Baltasar Gracian, of 1601 to 1658—don't you worry about him, Mensa! One of the key issues there, he said, was that it's better to be done on price than to be done on merchandise. What's happened to the Australian people is that they were done on both by the Labor Party at the last election. They've been done on both because the most pressing issue out there right now is the cost of living. People cannot afford their power bill. They cannot afford to fuel their car through the year at the prices there are at the moment. They are struggling with their grocery bill. And each one of these—power, groceries, fuel—is attached to both domestic and international so-called 2030 legislated targets and 2050 legislated targets. If you believe in the targets, you believe these people should be poor. If you want to legislate for the targets and drive people towards it, then you are responsible for the fact of what is happening to their power bills. You are responsible for what is happening to their fuel bills. You're responsible for the fact that fertiliser prices are going up, reflected in their grocery bills.

We are seeing what's happening around the world. We know what's happening. The power crisis in the UK and in Europe did not start with the Ukraine war; it started with the wind drought in the United Kingdom, where we had tens of thousands of people who had to go and find new providers because their power contracts fell over. What we now have, what we are seeing as this crisis goes on in Europe, is the reality coming back. There are 21 coal-fired power stations now coming back online in Germany, and that has been brought forward by a minister who's a member of the Greens. Why? Because they need the power to provide the basics to people—basic dignity back into their houses and the capacity to afford to heat their houses.

We are seeing, in what is happening around the world, what will happen in Australia if we do not have a reality check and understand that there is not one developed country in the globe that has brought down power prices with wind or solar—not one. Why do people believe that we're somehow unique and that it's going to happen here? It won't. It is not going to. The facts are there for everybody to see. Look at your power bill. That is what happens when you get tied to targets. It is up to the Labor Party now. Because they are the government, they are now responsible for what happens next. What happens next is now on their shift.

What we're also seeing quite obviously is that we get a sense of ridicule from the Labor Party because we suggest nuclear. There are small modular reactors that are coming on. You want smart jobs? You want zero emissions? You want high-paying jobs? That's where the world is going. And they laugh at it. Let's look at some of the countries that are so stupid, such as the United States, France, Sweden, Argentina, China, Japan! All these people must be so stupid, because they're all developing it! Look at the companies, such as Hitachi, Westinghouse, General Electric, KEPCO, Mitsubishi, Rolls-Royce—all these silly people, all these silly countries, developing small modular reactors! And, yes, I would have one in New England. Rolls-Royce is developing one now for the city of Leeds—16 metres high, four metres wide, and it will produce enough power for the city of Leeds, over 500,000 people, with zero emissions. So one of them—16 metres high, 40 metres wide—will do 1½ Canberras. Of course I want to have that sort of technology. Of course we want it here. I want to produce it here. I want to use it here. All we are doing at the moment is digging up the rocks for other people to be clever. Let's be clever ourselves.

I started with Baltasar Gracian but I'm going to have to finish with Beyonce. I was looking at one of my favourites, 'Say my name'. But now, for the Labor Party, it's not 'Say my name'; for the Labor Party, for Australia, it's just, 'Say the number, say the number. If no-one is around you, say, "$275, I love you."' They will never say the number. It's just beyond them. 'They're acting kind of shady and they don't want to call us baby.' I think it's best summed up by Beyonce Knowles, born in Houston, Texas, in 1981 and still with us today: 'Why don't you say the things that you said to me yesterday?' You know why? Because it is not the truth. They know what the truth is. They know that their promises on power were total and utter rubbish.

Maria Vamvakinou (Calwell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

s VAMVAKINOU () (): I have to confess I'm a little bit confused by the opposition's framing of this MPI, but I guess you'd have to sympathise with the opposition, because they obviously can't stand on their own record on tackling increasing energy prices, because there is no record, and there was never a plan. Listening to those opposite, you would think Australians just woke up overnight having to contend with energy bills. You would be forgiven for thinking that they weren't governing for nearly a decade and that the lights and heating in homes and the operating costs of engine rooms in factories weren't placing ever-increasing pressures on budgets under their watch. How disconnected from the realities facing ordinary Australians must they be to think that people were not calling out to those opposite for years to address the increasing cost-of-living pressures? I'm sorry to say this, and excuse the pun, but they must really have a dim view of the realities that working families and businesses across Australia have faced under their watch.

So let's enlighten those opposite. Excuse this second energy pun, but this MPI would really be laughable if it weren't speaking to such a serious and important issue that is on the minds of everyday Australians. Instead, it can only be described as shameless. This is an MPI put forward by those who were part of a government which oversaw four gigawatts of dispatchable power leaving the grid, and only one gigawatt replacing it. It's one put forward by those who, when they were in government, concealed energy price rises during the election and hid delays on major projects. The previous government, and indeed the former energy minister, the current shadow Treasurer, not only knew that electricity prices were skyrocketing; he also ordered that the information be hidden from the Australian people before the election. The member for Hume actually amended the industry code for electricity retailers to delay the release of increases in the default market offer until after the election—a whopping 19.7 per cent increase to the default market offer sneakily hidden from the Australian people. It is nothing but denials, delays and dishonesty from those opposite. On their watch, they promised $1 billion to support 3,800 megawatts of new generation over three years ago but delivered not a single dollar, not a single kilowatt.

We understand the impact that higher energy prices are having on households and businesses. After a decade of chaos and delay in domestic energy policy, working families are indeed under pressure. The Albanese Labor government is taking action to clean up the mess created by those opposite. We have a plan that is structural on both the macro and micro level. These challenges won't go away overnight, but, with the states and the private sector, we're investing $20 billion in the transmission grid, targeting 82 per cent renewables into the grid and reforming the market to reduce volatility and increase transparency for consumers.

Our $20 billion Rewiring the Nation fund is already delivering two major projects totalling $6 billion, including in my home state of Victoria. We're investing $157.9 million in energy security and reliability. We're investing $63.9 million in dispatchable storage technology. And, if you want evidence of how starved those opposite are of any outcomes from their time in office when it comes to the issue of energy prices, this investment is redirected from one of their failed programs which delivered zero megawatt capacity—zero, nil. It's a mark of shame for all of the lost years that could have been used to put this country in good shape and to face the ever-changing global circumstances. Whichever measurement you look at, whether it be megawatts, kilowatts or measured in sound policy, those opposite delivered zero, and the result, sadly, is what we are facing today.

While the world is undergoing a fundamental transformation shift in energy markets, those opposite failed, for nearly 10 long years, to prepare this country for the future. We called on them, and they ducked and weaved. In contrast, we put forward a plan, and we're getting on with the business of government. The current cost of living is a huge concern to my constituents, and the previous government's inaction did absolutely nothing to stop the escalating costs of essential resources. The only way to ensure equitable and affordable access to power in the future is through policy settings that will help develop the whole scale transition of our energy market.

Kevin Hogan (Page, National Party, Shadow Minister for Trade and Tourism) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Obviously, it's been budget week, and budget weeks are usually very interesting weeks in this chamber and this building, because a government of the day paints its vision about its plans for Australia moving forward and the solutions that it sees to the problems we face, while giving Australians an idea about what those are. This week, this budget has been the no hope, no solutions budget. It's been brought down by a Treasurer who, really, has been known as 'Mr Misery' since he's taken over as Treasurer, because he's been talking down our economy and talking down our communities, in the sense of what's going on, ever since the day he took over. There's no grand plan in this budget either.

There were a number of disappointments in the budget, and I think the major one would be what we're talking about today. As is well known, one of the core promises of the then opposition, now government, was that they were going to lower power prices by $275 a year. Not only did they say that, they said it on many occasions. I've got a quote here from the now defence minister, who talked about the 'rigorous modelling' and said that it was some of 'the most extensive modelling that any opposition had ever done'. So this wasn't just a figure plucked out of thin air. This was a promise of a $275 lowering of electricity prices. And, to quote again from the now Minister for Defence, he said that it was, 'rigorous modelling' and 'the most extensive modelling that any opposition had ever done'. So this wasn't an off-the-cuff thing.

What we found out in this budget, this week, is that, instead of power prices going down by $275 a year, they're actually going to go up. If you look at the percentage that they say prices are going to go up by, it will be equivalent to an increase of about $1,000 a year for a family. They said prices were going to go down by $275; they're actually going to go up by $1,000. This is a great betrayal of the Australian people, by this new government. Of course, they don't own that. They don't say, 'Gee, we got that wrong.' They make up excuses. One of their great excuses is the Ukraine war. A message to the government: the Ukraine war was going before they came into government. The supply issues and the disruption of the Ukraine war weren't something that happened after they came into government; they were going on before they came into government.

In fact, there were many members and ministers in the new government who were still saying, after they came into government, that they were going to lower prices by $275. The Prime Minister has been well quoted on all the times that he talked about it. The Treasurer, Dr Chalmers, has been quoted on it. The Leader of the House, Tony Burke, was quoted on it. The Minister for the Environment and Water, Tanya Plibersek, was quoted saying the same things. Again, when I talk about Mr Marles, the Minister for Defence, he was saying there was rigorous modelling. To now blame the Ukraine war is hypocritical. Sure, if they came into government and the Ukraine war started afterwards and caused some issues, they might say that, but the Ukraine war started well before they came into government.

When energy prices and electricity bills go up like this, what happens? It means that inflation goes up. Because of what they're not doing, energy bills go up and inflation goes up. That is why this cost-of-living pressure is accentuating. When inflation goes up, what else is going up? Interest rates are going up. An even bigger cost to people's and families' cost-of-living pressures is not energy prices; it would actually be, for those who have a mortgage, the interest rate pressures they're feeling with their mortgage costs going up as well. Again, this is really this new government's former prime minister Julia Gillard moment, when she said:

There will be no carbon tax under the government I lead.

We all remember that. Of course, she then legislated one. With this government, it's, 'We're going to lower your power bills by $275,' which has been a complete betrayal of the Australian people in what they've done in the context of that.

Matt Burnell (Spence, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I was eagerly awaiting the topic of today's MPI. When it finally arrived, I was somewhat gobsmacked. Energy prices! It's an important matter most definitely, but I can only gather that the topic—heavily workshopped, I'm sure—had been through a few drafts. I'm sure that one of the originals probably made mention to 'these energy price increases of the former Liberal government's own making', but, alas, the censor's pen came out and removed those key words.

Naturally, as we all know, you can't talk about the increase in power prices without first talking about the member for Hume. I'm disappointed the member for Hume isn't in the chamber for this. I would feel so Zen if I possessed the lack of self-awareness for my actions as the member for Hume does concerning this debate. I'm sure he sleeps well, like a baby, at night. The member for Hume was the minister responsible up to the bitter end of the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison government, the ATM government. Their stink still resonates on power prices and on the energy debate, and will continue to do so for some time to come. If I lacked the ability to feel contrition or remorse, I'd probably come into this chamber too and, without skipping a beat, gleefully criticise a government that is tasked with tackling nine years of policy inaction, obfuscation and vandalism in the energy policy space. It all comes back to the member for Hume.

You would think that one of the biggest revelations on energy policy to come out after the demise of the ATM government was that the member for Cook was secretly also responsible for the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources, the secret minister for all and sundry, a fully cooked ministerial alphabet soup. Instead, we find out that, merely four days before the election was called, the member for Hume amended the industry code for electricity retailers to delay the release of increases in default market offers for New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia until after the election—until they turned off the lights on their way out. Of course, we found this out long after the election. This is their MO; it is craven and it's not one befitting someone holding high office. Now, the member for Hume is coming into this place, along with his loyal soldiers, saying that they pulled the pin from the energy price grenade as they were leaving office, and they ask us how we intend to fix their mess. It is valid to ask, sure, but I would naturally expect some more humility had this come from anyone other than a crowd that included the member for Hume. Amnesia is a wonderful thing—a wonderful trait for those in opposition. How convenient!

Unlike the member for Hume, the gift that keeps on giving truly is renewable energy. We understand the impact high energy prices are having on households and businesses. Working families are under pressure due to Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine and a decade of chaos and delay in domestic economic policy. The previous government oversaw four gigawatts of dispatchful power leaving the credit and only one gigawatt replacing it. These challenges won't go away overnight. With the states and private sector, we're investing $20 billion in the transmission grid, targeting 82 per cent renewables into the grid and reforming the market to reduce volatility and increase transparency for consumers. On this side, in this government, we are getting on with the job of governing. The decade of denial and delay is over, good people of Australia. The adults are back in town, and we will continue to do all we can to bring down the cost-of-living pressures for you.

Andrew Willcox (Dawson, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

'No one held back, no one left behind'—that's what Labor promised Australians earlier this year. But Labor has left every person in this country who pays a power bill behind. Try this one on for size: 'You'll be better off under a Labor government.' It sounded wrong at the time, and now they've been exposed for not having a plan, being without any solutions and failing Australians on reliable and affordable energy. On Tuesday night we all heard about the problems and no solutions. This is what Labor do—they overpromise and underdeliver. And, sadly, this won't end.

When Labor was last in government, household electricity prices doubled, and here we go again. What is becoming more and more clear is that we're in the hands of a government that has no idea. They're living a pipe dream, hoping that the feel-good solution of no more gas or coal will fix their problems. Power must be available 24/7—it must be. I don't want to be the one who has to go and tell Mrs Smith, who is lying in her hospital bed on a ventilator, 'You have to hold your breath for the next 14 hours until the sun comes up again.' Does anyone else here want to do this? I don't think so. We simply need coal and gas to be part of our future to ensure both reliable and affordable energy. At the very least, we need to be having a conversation about nuclear.

The Liberals and Nationals will look at all energy options—coal, gas, wind, solar, hydro and nuclear. We on this side of the chamber are about making sure Australians can get the cheapest electron to their households and to their business. But it seems this anti-gas, anti-coal, anti-regions, anti-small-business, anti-ag, anti-plan and anti-commitment Labor government cannot bring themselves to displease the Greens. It will be the Australian families and small businesses that have to deal with these rising costs. This Labor government is about idealism, but what it needs is a good dose of realism. They are praying that these mystical and magical ideas are going to work, but their pipedream will mean that energy will cost more and that power won't be available to the people of this country. If we don't have energy at the right price in Australia, we are going to drive industry and business offshore. We don't want to do that. It's just not right for our people.

The government had the opportunity on Tuesday night to show good faith to Aussies and come good on their promises that had them elected to run this joint. But instead the Australian people were on the receiving end of even more uncertainty. On Tuesday night, this Labor government walked away from a commitment to reduce every household's energy bill by $275, a promise that was repeated over 97 times. Then on Wednesday the Treasurer said it was in the budget. Then an hour later he said it was not in the budget. Who is running the show here?

This is a huge issue when Aussie families are doing it tough. Labor is putting us on a path where we'll probably have to choose between our aircon and being able to buy veggies. The Treasurer gave us the news that households can expect a 50 per cent increase in their energy bills and a 40 per cent increase in their gas bills. Some might suggest it could be more. With increases as devastating as this, Aussie households deserve certainty and consistency from their government. My people in Dawson should not be left second-guessing. It's been a difficult week for Australians. This government has been caught with no plan and is taking hardworking Australians down the path to unaffordable energy. Australians deserve to have electricity that is reliable, affordable and available 24/7.

Cassandra Fernando (Holt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to start by offering my applause to the Albanese Labor government, particularly the Prime Minister and the Treasurer, for delivering a budget that builds a stronger, more resilient and more modern economy. This government was elected with a mandate to deliver immediate cost-of-living relief to the millions of Australians struggling due to the mess left behind by those on the other side of this chamber. The previous government oversaw four gigawatts of dispatchable power leaving the grid and only one gigawatt replacing that. They concealed energy price rises during the election and hid delays on major projects.

These challenges will take much more than a few months to rectify, but this government, using a collaborative approach that has become a common theme for everything we do, is working closely with the states and the private sector to ensure the Australian people have the energy system that they need and deserve. This means an investment of $20 billion in the transmission grid, targeting 82 per cent renewables into the grid and reforming the market to reduce volatility and increase transparency for consumers. It means a package of reforms to the Australian Domestic Gas Security Mechanism.

There have been rorts which are too many to name and $1 trillion in debt. As a nation, we are also faced with crises at home and across our shores which impact our economy. First there was the global pandemic, which put severe pressure on supply chains across the world. Now we have a war in Europe due to Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine, which is creating havoc in energy markets around the world and pushing electricity prices higher at home. I understand the impact high energy prices are having on households and businesses, and I wish the previous government had been aware of the risk of playing games with our nation's domestic energy policy. Instead, it was left to those who did nothing but leave a decade of chaos and delay behind.

The government's policies include moving a quarterly-basis consideration, modernising energy market regulation with the states and territories and increasing the monitoring and oversight of gas markets. It means investing $157.9 million in energy security and reliability, including the National Energy Transformation Partnership to bring more renewables online faster through national significant transmission projects, better social licence outcomes and enhancing transmission and planning; investing $20 billion through the Rewiring the Nation fund; and expanding and modernising household energy performance standards. I'll tell you what the Albanese government is taking action on: cleaning up the mess created by the previous government. I can confirm that renewable energy is cheaper and moving the energy grid to 82 per cent renewable will reduce energy prices. I can confirm that the previous government, including the former energy minister, the current shadow Treasurer, not only knew that electricity prices were skyrocketing but also ordered that the information be hidden from the Australian people.

Of course we stand by our plans to reduce power prices. Just as the Australian people gave us the mandate at the election, the Australian people will judge us on what we actually deliver. Our government is delivering a $7.5 billion five-point plan that delivers targeted cost-of-living relief for households without adding to inflation. Our plan puts some money in people's pockets; boosts productivity; grows the economy; includes cheaper childcare for more than 1.2 million families; progressively expands paid parental leave to six months by 2026; produces cheaper medicine by reducing the PBS maximum co-payment to $30 a script; delivers more affordable housing; and gets wages moving again. I thank the House.

James Stevens (Sturt, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I concur with the previous speaker. The government will absolutely be judged on what they deliver for the people of Australia. From what they said in their budget last night, they're going to deliver a spectacular increase in electricity prices over the next two years. This matter of public importance was a great opportunity for members of the government because implicit in it is the suggestion that the Labor Party lied at the last election, when they said that they were going to reduce power prices by $275. If I was a member of a government that was going to honour that promise, I would have lined up speaker after speaker to say: 'No, we stand by that. We did not lie to the people of Australia during the election campaign and we stand by the commitment we made, a solemn commitment, on one of the most important things—the household budget. We stand by that commitment, and the suggestion that it will not be delivered is absolutely incorrect. We look forward to going to the next election proving that we have delivered on that promise—thus, securing support for re-election.'

Instead, what have we had from all of the speakers so far? Frankly, it was a bit too incoherent to recap. Some of them weren't even talking about electricity prices but there's not a lot of content from those opposite when it comes to defending a proposition that electricity prices are going up, having committed to the people of this country that by voting for them, they would be reducing them. I've got some advice for the Labor Party. Firstly, don't lie to people in an election campaign. Don't tell them you will reduce their electricity prices—one of the most significant things in the household budget—and then get elected and break that promise. Do not do that to people. It is absolutely disgusting. It's actually beyond politics. If we've gotten to the point where you say something like that to people and 25 million Australians say, 'Look, there's one of the two major parties—one of the two options for government—has given a commitment that if I vote for them, my bills are going to fall by $275 a year', and then you break that promise within six months, it is a disgraceful situation for politics to be in this country. Secondly, if you're the Labor Party and you did lie, come clean about it. Just come clean and say: 'Look, that's not right. We just needed to say that to get your vote and now that you've voted for us and now that we're in government, it's actually not true. We're not doing that at all. In fact, it's even better than that. Not only are we not cutting your electricity bills, we're increasing by more than 50 per cent over two years. Isn't this a funny little joke we played on you? Isn't this some great trickery?'

I hope you're all impressed and enjoying that great fraud that was committed upon the people, but stop lying about it. Tell the lie to win votes, and you'll be commensurately punished at the next election for telling that lie, and the Labor party will. But now that the election's over, let's not have this charade continuing when you handed down a budget last night that said that electricity prices are going to increase by more than 50 per cent in two years and not concede that the Labor Party's commitment at the election to reduce prices is an absolute lie.

My third piece of advice for the Labor Party is this: if the situation is as diabolical as the budget papers indicated last night, do not bury your heads in the sand and do not have members of the government come into this chamber and make all these debating points about what happened in the past. Whether or not any of those facts are true, the Labor Party were the ones who, aware of all that information, went to the last election with a commitment to reduce electricity prices, only to now say: 'It's all too hard. We've gotten into government, and it turns out this whole "running the country" thing is a little more difficult than we thought.' They are just giving up on electricity prices and handing down a budget that says, 'Electricity prices are going up, and we will also do nothing about it—absolutely nothing, except for talking about previous ministers and previous governments.'

The people of this country expect a government that understands their challenges and comes up with solutions to the problems that face this nation. The greatest problem facing this nation is clearly an out-of-control energy crisis that is going to cripple families and businesses in this country. The fact is that we've got a government that wants to say to people, 'There's a big problem, and it's not our job to solve it'. It is a great indictment upon the government, and I can't wait for the next election, because the people of Australia are going to have a lot to say about that disgraceful approach to public policy. (Time expired)

Dan Repacholi (Hunter, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Those opposite have come in here today to try to tell us that we don't have a plan to address the issue of surging power prices which impact hard-working families like those in my electorate of Hunter, like the type of family that I grew up in. I will not stand here and be told that Labor does not understand the struggles of the working people. I will not stand here and allow that from those opposite, who like to play dress-ups and pretend they understand what it's like for the everyday Australian family to be hit with an increased energy price, when they knew it was coming.

You guys knew it was coming. Yes, they deliberately and, some may say, conveniently, hid the report when they knew that Australian households would be hit in the hip pocket by an increase in power prices. Instead of warning families in the Hunter electorate, they decided it would be better for them to keep it to themselves. They decided that warning real people about real issues that would have a real impact on their lives was less important than winning the votes of those same people who they claim to care about. Well, look how that turned out for them. I hope the seats on that side are comfy, because they sure are over here.

The opposition claim that we don't have a plan. Well, let me say something to the opposition: not only do we have a plan to address this issue but we also have the guts to acknowledge it. We have the guts to go to the Australian people and be upfront, instead of pretending we didn't know and letting it hit Australians in the face as if it came out of nowhere. What this budget has confirmed is that we don't play politics with people's lives. If you want to see a government without a plan to address an energy crisis, just cast your mind back 160 days. Yes, that's right—we've only been in government for 160 days. The issue that exists now was certainly around before the election.

The previous government oversaw four gigawatts of dispatchable power leaving the grid with only one gigawatt replacing it. The previous government hid the delays on major projects like Snowy Hydro, keeping the public in the dark on the issues that matter to them. It's like they've loosened all of the nuts and bolts on the dining-room table and then, when they've gone and sat at it, they're yelling and screaming, claiming that it was all those other ones who broke it.

How are we going to fix it, you ask? By investment, such as with $224 million for the community batteries and households solar grants programs. This will deploy 400 community-scale batteries for up to 100,000 Australian households. We've already got one that AGL has just done in the Hunter, and it's going amazingly. We'll introduce reforms to the Australian Domestic Gas Security Mechanism, which will modernise our energy market regulation with our states and territories and also increase the monitoring and oversight of the gas market.

These challenges are difficult. We know that, and we know that they won't away overnight. But it will happen. We have a plan to work with the states and the private sector. We are investing $20 billion into the transmission grid to make our energy system more reliable. We aren't sitting back and watching the world go by; we are getting out there and getting things done. We are doing the work that should have been done a decade ago. We're rewiring the nation and getting more renewable energy in the grid, instead of flip-flopping around like those opposite did for ten years. Was it 25 or 27 energy policies and plans that the previous government had in the last decade? It's hard to keep track, but it's more than my fingers and toes put together. There's no excuse for this, especially since those who play dress-ups opposite even had two energy ministers at the same time when the Prime Minister so generously offered himself to take on the portfolio as well. Surely ScoMo could have helped out his mate Angus Taylor—

Steve Georganas (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member will refer to members by their correct titles.

Dan Repacholi (Hunter, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Cook could have helped out his mate the member for Hume, the guy who wants to be Australia's Treasurer now, to come up with a solution. But no, he left it to us. It's lucky we're here for the job. The previous government left this country and our energy system behind, but our government doesn't leave anyone behind.

Steve Georganas (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The time for this discussion has concluded.