Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

Mr President, I have a supplementary question. I refer the minister to KPMG's analysis of electricity costs, which showed that Australia's power costs are already the highest of all 14 developed and developing nations studied and that the cost of electricity in Australia per kilowatt hour is more than double that in the US, Canada, Germany, Great Britain and France and higher even than that in Japan. Why is the Gillard government deliberately raising the cost of electricity by even more, contributing to a further loss of international competitiveness and eventual loss of jobs, investment and prosperity?