George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

What I meant is that since the election of the coalition government the price of electricity to Australian households has stabilised. That fact is apparent from the material collated and graphed in the Finkel report. The Finkel report also discloses that during the period of the Labor government the price of electricity to Australian households doubled and has stabilised under the period of the coalition government.

Nevertheless, you are right in one respect. All policymakers, and certainly the government, understand that to do nothing is not an option, because if we do nothing then there will be upward pressure on electricity prices, and that is what we want to avoid. That is why at the moment the government is considering the Finkel report. It is discussing the matter and, informed by the views of Dr Finkel and those others who have contributed to this discussion, the government will in the near future be making some decisions in relation to the National Electricity Market. Those decisions will serve the three objectives, as I said last week, of affordable supply, reliable supply and lower carbon emissions.