Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. On 15 occasions in this parliament, I've asked the Prime Minister to repeat his election promise to cut power bills for Australian families by $275 every year. On 15 occasions the Prime Minister has refused. Will the Prime Minister finally admit he has broken his promise.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm asked about energy policy and promises. We know we inherited an energy system that was broken. Twenty-two policies announced, none of them landed. An energy grid built for the last century.

We have taken action to provide direct power bill relief for Australians, and those opposite voted against it. We've taken action for energy price caps, and those opposite, you guessed it, voted against it. We've taken action to promote investment in renewable energy and, you guessed it, they voted against it. And now we have the safeguards mechanism before the parliament and, of course, those opposite are voting against it. The member for Bass, to her credit, this morning pointed out the issues which were there.

In the 2019 election, the member for Hume promised to reduce the wholesale price of electricity to $70 per megawatt. Seventy dollars by the end of 2021. Spoiler alert! It didn't happen. When they left office, it was not $70, not $170, not even $270, but $286! Missed it by that much! Promised $70, got $286.

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

The member for Hume will cease interjecting, particularly with those interjections, and I will hear from the Manager of Opposition Business.

Paul Fletcher (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Government Services and the Digital Economy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, it's on relevance. It was a very specific question about the promise to cut power bills by $275 every year. Speaker Jenkins ruled on these issues, and indeed you've ruled on these issues. I'd submit that the Prime Minister should be asked to be directly relevant to a tightly worded question.

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

The Prime Minister was asked about commitments he's made about energy prices. I'm going to ask him to return back to the question. I give him the call.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thanks very much, Mr Speaker. Of course, one of the things we haven't done is to commit money like they did. They committed $4 million to the feasibility study on the Collinsville coal fired power plant. Those opposite also promised $1 billion that was going to deliver 3,800 megawatts of new power generation. How much did you deliver?

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

The Prime Minister will pause. I will hear from the Leader of the Opposition.

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I think your ruling is being treated with complete contempt. You gave the Prime Minister a very clear instruction. He defies that direction from you. He will not mention this figure. He has broken his promise and he can't speak with a straight tongue.

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

The member for Dickson will resume his seat.

The member for Dunkley will cease interjecting. I can't hear what is being said. If members continue to interject, they will be warned and asked to leave the chamber.

I don't need any assistance from the Leader of the Opposition. The Prime Minister has been asked about his commitments and energy prices. He is being relevant as long as he sticks to his commitments and energy prices. He's had a preamble; he's got one minute left to go. I give him the call.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thanks, Mr Speaker. I've spoken about—

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Did you make a promise or not?

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

The Leader of the Opposition has asked his question. I appreciate he wants an answer. So do I. I call the Prime Minister.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thanks, Mr Speaker. I've spoken directly about what we have done, which is bringing legislation—

Michael Sukkar (Deakin, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Social Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Say the number 275!

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

The member for Deakin is now warned!

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

here into this parliament to give relief on power prices, and those opposite voted against it—$1.5 billion and they voted against it. They did promise a billion dollars to deliver new power generation. You know how much they spent? Zero. Not a single kilowatt, not enough to light a single light globe, from those opposite. They failed in government and they are failing in opposition.