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

In answer to that last question, if you provide improved certainty for investors and there's increased investment, increased electricity generation and increased supply. It's the basic laws of market economics: if you increase supply, prices will be lower, all other things being equal.

What I would also say is it's a historic fact that the biggest fall in electricity prices was on the back of the abolition of the carbon tax. I know that you are carbon tax related and electricity fall deniers. You are deniers of electricity price falls on the back of the carbon tax repeal. That's fine, you can continue to deny that, but the historical facts are there.

Moving forward, what do you believe? Do you believe that a 50 per cent renewable target and a 45 per cent emissions reduction target is going to bring electricity prices down? How is that going to bring electricity prices down? You want a 100 per cent renewable energy target. It's going to be an auction here. If Bill Shorten were elected to government, we'd end up with a compromise between 50 and 100 per cent. They'd probably end up at 75 per cent. Families, pensioners, businesses and jobs would all be damaged.