Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Hume for that great question. By putting downward pressure on electricity prices and by ensuring the reliability and stability of the National Electricity Market, we will not only take pressure off household budgets; we will also help businesses be more successful and more profitable, and that will help deliver more jobs and growth.

Now, the Labor-Greens carbon tax was deliberately designed to push up the cost of electricity, hurting families, hurting business, costing investment and leading to fewer jobs and lower wages. What we are doing here is deliberately designed to bring electricity prices down and to boost reliability, and to do so in a way that is consistent with our international emissions reduction commitments.

We are tackling power bills from every angle, from network to generation to retail costs, and at the centre of our plan is today's announcement by the Prime Minister that we will pursue a National Energy Guarantee. Our National Energy Guarantee is expected to reduce wholesale electricity prices by about 20 to 25 per cent and household energy bills by about $100 to $115 a year. The National Energy Guarantee is the unanimous recommendation of the Energy Security Board which was set up by the Council of Australian Governments on the recommendation of the Finkel report.

The National Energy Guarantee provides the investment certainty that global and domestic investors need to commit to increased investment and to increase supply. Increased supply brings prices down. Businesses across Australia need access to competitively priced and reliable energy supplies, and this will help business be more successful and more profitable into the future. More successful and more profitable businesses will be able to hire more Australians and pay them better wages. (Time expired)