Zed Seselja (ACT, Liberal Party, Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Hughes for the question. The Morrison government, unlike those opposite, is focused on delivering affordable, reliable and secure electricity for all Australian families and businesses. This is central to our ongoing commitment to economic recovery and will support jobs, productivity and economic growth. Our plan to reduce power bills for hundreds of thousands of households and businesses is working.

As a result of the default market offer reforms introduced by the Morrison government, Australians are already benefiting from lower electricity prices. Wholesale energy prices across the National Electricity Market have fallen for 17 straight months, from well before COVID. With wholesale costs making up around a third of residential electricity bills, and even more for industry, these price falls are delivering real savings for Australian families and businesses.

Today, the Australian Energy Regulator released its draft determination for the default market offer for 2021-22. The DMO will translate into lower prices for households and businesses across New South Wales, South-East Queensland and South Australia. The DMO caps the price of the most expensive offers in the market, protecting consumers from high electricity prices. The Australian Energy Regulator's draft price determination released today will drop prices for households on standing offers by up to 7.9 per cent or $136 a year, and for small businesses by up to 8½ per cent. This builds on substantial savings already delivered in the first two years of our default market offer reforms. Average residential customers who were on the highest standing offers prior to the introduction of the DMO could now be up to $802 per year better off in New South Wales, $794 better off in South-East Queensland and $707 better off in South Australia. We're putting more money into people's pockets and supporting our economic recovery.