Nick Minchin (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance and Administration) Share this | Hansard source

Mr President, my response was pertinent to the question. My point is that any intervention which raises the cost of electricity and the cost of power is going to hurt poorer Australians more than others. That is a simple fact of life and this parliament must bear that in mind in any interventions it seeks to make in this matter. The fact is that anything we do in relation to encouraging alternative energy supplies or to nuclear, geosequestration et cetera is going to raise the price of generating power, and that will hurt lower income and unemployed Australians more than anybody else.