Michael Ronaldson (Victoria, Liberal Party, Minister for Veterans’ Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Muir again. Clearly, the Labor Party say they want to do a deal but, when push comes to shove, they are not prepared to do so. Labor, with the help of the Greens, set up the Climate Change Authority and two-yearly reviews. It is Labor's review; it is Labor's Climate Change Authority. We believe the two-yearly review must be maintained to protect consumers. As the Senate is well aware, the Australian government is committed to a RET that allows sustainable growth from both small- and large-scale renewable energy. We have come to an agreement with Labor in good faith in relation to the gigawatt hours, but the government believes that if the target is not met because it is set too high households and business will have to pay for this failure via a penalty price on renewable energy certificates. That would mean an increase to electricity bills similar to the carbon tax. If the renewable energy industry is on track to meet the target, then the review will show this and nothing will change. But if the price of certificates is heading towards the penalty then customer should not be paying. (Time expired)