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

The Albanese Labor government went to the last election promising a $275 reduction in household power bills, not one-off energy relief but, rather, $275 off household power bills every single year. Now, in the third year of this government, Australians are paying up to $1,000 more than what Labor had promised them. This is having very real human impacts. We know from Finder, a consumer sentiment tracker, that 49 per cent of Australians are going cold this winter because they are fearful of electricity bills going up further if they turn on their heater, which means half of Australians—whether they be seniors, whether they be people with disabilities, whether they be veterans or whether they be hardworking families—are going cold because this government has lost control of the energy system. They are now paying among the highest prices in the world for electricity. Every single week since this government came to power, an extra 600 families have gone on hardship arrangements with their energy retailer because the government have lost control. This is a direct consequence of their all-eggs-in-one-basket, renewables-only energy approach.