Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Education and Training) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Gallacher for his question. I'm very happy to let Senator Gallacher know—although we, of course, don't share all of the inner workings of the party room—that the National Energy Guarantee has been supported and endorsed by the coalition party room on more than one occasion in deliberations about the framing and development of the coalition's policy, which is part of a whole suite of measures we're applying, as the government, to bring down power prices for Australians.

Our approach is about ensuring that Australian households and Australian businesses end up paying less for their power. That's why we reformed the retail market, making sure that people get better and clearer information in relation to their household bills and the opportunity to switch plans. That's why we reformed the gas market and made sure that Australians got priority in relation to gas. Of course, we've seen wholesale power prices come down as gas prices have come down as a result of the Turnbull government's interventions. It's also why we reformed the transmission market to make sure the way in which transition systems or companies could game the system ended. It's why we're pursuing the NEG: to make sure that, in relation to future energy policy in Australia, a premium is placed on getting lower prices and higher reliability. Indeed, the modelling released by the independent expert Energy Security Board has made it clear that Australian households stand to gain around $550 as a result of the implementation of the NEG. These are real savings that can deliver real benefits to Australian households, improve the reliability of energy and, of course, help to meet Australia's international obligations. That's why it's good policy. That's why we've continued to progress it through the states, why we'll progress it through the party room, and why we'll progress it through the parliament too.