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

My question is to the Prime Minister. Prime Minister, what is the total cost of the government's energy plan, and what will the Capacity Investment Scheme cost taxpayers?

Government Members:

Government members interjecting—

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

Order! Members on my right will cease interjecting before the Prime Minister begins his answer. Order! The member for Bennelong will cease interjecting.

The member for Bruce will leave the chamber under 94(a). We're not off to a good start! Every time before a minister answers a question, including the Prime Minister, there will be silence.

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

You've got to hand it to the Leader of the Opposition. At a time when the rest of us are working to get power bills down, he's picked the one option guaranteed to push power prices up.

Clare O'Neil (Hotham, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Home Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

They're going precisely in the wrong direction.

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

The Minister for Home Affairs!

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

The economics of nuclear do not stack up. That doesn't worry those opposite. They spent a decade in power without a single surplus and then left Australia with a trillion dollars of debt. The Leader of the Opposition is offering a blank piece of paper, demanding a blank cheque to pay for it. Three days of questions—

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

Order! The Prime Minister will pause. The Leader of the Opposition will raise his point of order.

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

The question was very tight—deliberately so. Under the standing orders, if the Prime Minister doesn't know the answer, he could take it on notice. He could come back and provide advice. But I seek your ruling in relation to whether the Prime Minister is being relevant to the very tight question he was asked, which was: 'What is the total system cost of the government's energy plan, and what will the Capacity Investment Scheme cost taxpayers?'

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

The Prime Minister has had about 45 seconds of preamble, but he's not entitled to base his answer just on the opposition's policy, because that was—

An honourable member interjecting—

Order! I don't need sound effects. The Prime Minister will have to return to the government's energy policy and not just talk about the opposition's policies.

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

We do have a plan on this side of the House. It's a plan that has been legislated, a plan for net zero by 2050, a plan for a 43 per cent reduction by 2030. The Capacity Investment Scheme is a plan to drive investment in renewables; the safeguard mechanism that was thought of by former minister Greg Hunt, but which we have legislated as well. We have done that because we know that the cheapest form of new energy is renewables. And Australia is home to some of the greatest sources of renewable energy in the world: sunshine and wind—and the Leader of the Opposition's anger and negativity, a great source of renewable energy that has no end and that is used every single day. We saw it last week, when he made an announcement and then three days later gave a speech to the Liberal Party Federal Council that was full of abuse.

Honourable members interjecting—

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

Order! The Prime Minister will pause. The Minister for Infrastructure will cease interjecting. We'll 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, under standing order 91(c), a member's conduct is disorderly if they wilfully refuse to conform to a standing order. You, rightly, directed the Prime Minister on relevance earlier, but he is continuing to flout your ruling.

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

Let me just give the House some assistance. If everyone could take down the temperature on this question, it would enable me to hear the Prime Minister. He knows he can do some comparing and contrasting regarding his energy plan, but I'm going to listen carefully to make sure that he sticks to answering the question he was asked about.

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

Our plan is working. We've seen a 25 per cent increase in renewables in the grid, the highest uptake of rooftop solar in the world, record investment in batteries and storage and wholesale power prices that have dropped almost $300 a megawatt hour since we came to office. We've already added 8.5 gigawatts. They can't say how many gigawatts. They can't say how many reactors. More than 50 renewable projects have been approved, enough to power three million homes.

Honourable members interjecting—

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

Order! Members on my left. The member for Deakin will cease interjecting, and the Leader of the Opposition will cease interjecting, so I can hear from the member for Gilmore.