Dan Tehan (Wannon, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

During the six weeks that we weren't sitting, I've been going around my electorate doing listening posts, and the thing that has staggered me more than anything else is how many people have come up to me with their electricity and gas bills, wanting to know what can be done about it and asking me to take it up with the Prime Minister. I'm glad the Prime Minister is here today to hear me say to him that this cannot continue.

One such constituent, Mrs Faulkner, has seen her gas bill go from $127 in May to $720 in July. She said to me, 'This is a cost-of-living crisis.' I've had small businesses come up to me saying that they are now working the first three or four days of every week for nothing because of the increase in their energy bills. They wanted me to say to the Prime Minister, 'This cost-of-living crisis is real, Prime Minister, and the cost of energy is driving it; you need to do something about it.' Otherwise, we'll have small-business people in my electorate working for nothing and pensioners unable to afford to turn their heating on.