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

It's very clear that the Victorian government, indeed, all states, in the national electricity market, should support the guarantee. Daniel Andrews should support it not only because of the affordability benefits I have outlined but also for the reliability benefits. The Australian Energy Market Operator said that Victoria last year faced a 43 per cent chance of load shedding, which is a euphemism for blackouts. Victoria had the second-highest prices for electricity in the country. It's really critical to address those issues of reliability and affordability, as the NEG does, in the state of Victoria.

The only reason that the Victorian government is playing any types of games in its position on this is that Daniel Andrews and the Labor Party apparently are running scared of the Greens in the lead-up to the Victorian state election. Rather than letting the Greens dictate Labor policy, Labor ought to stand up for the businesses and households of Victoria, stand up for lower electricity prices, stand up for the reliability the NEG will bring and stand up for a better energy policy. (Time expired)