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

No, I can't confirm that. But what I can confirm is that about half an hour ago the Prime Minister and the minister for energy, Mr Frydenberg, announced the Australian government's energy policy, the National Energy Guarantee. This is a game-changing policy. It is implicit in your question, Senator Kitching, that there has been unsettlement and uncertainty in Australian energy policy for a good decade or more. But now, as a result of the announcement that the Turnbull government has made in the last half hour, there no longer is.

The choice could not be more stark than it is. The Australian government has adopted the recommendations of the Energy Security Board—a board of specialists who are better informed about the operation of the Australian energy market than any other group of people in Australia—to adopt a suite of policies which collectively are known as the National Energy Guarantee. As a result of this announcement, the uncertainty that has bedevilled this area of public policy for a decade or more now is a thing of the past. As a result of this policy, we will begin to see electricity prices go down. We will guarantee the reliability of supply, something that the Australian Labor Party, particularly in South Australia, has been unable to do. In the meantime we will stick to our Paris targets as well. This is a win-win-win.