Jane Hume (Victoria, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Treasurer, Senator Gallagher. The Treasurer has stated that the government is acting with 'some urgency' in relation to the soaring cost of gas. Minister, will you bring about an end to the uncertainty of the government's policy on gas prices by the end of this sitting fortnight?

Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Uncertainty? How many energy policies did you have?

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Watt, I have got the minister on her feet.

Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Hume for the question, even though I am a little bit surprised at the way it was framed. Will we end the uncertainty? We ended the uncertainty with the election of an Albanese government. We ended a decade of energy policy uncertainty. How many times did you try and land a policy? Twenty-two and counting. You didn't land any of them. You didn't. Everywhere we went, the private sector was saying: 'Can you provide certainty? We want investment certainty. We want to understand the approach that government policy will take so that we can make investment decisions.' And Senator Hume asks me about the uncertainty.

I will tell you what we have done since coming to government. Minister Bowen left the swearing-in ceremony to deal with the fact that the lights were going to go out. We then uncovered a 20 per cent increase in the price of electricity that Mr Angus Taylor had taken the unprecedented step of covering up and hiding before the election so it didn't become an election issue. Guess what? They were told that electricity prices were going to go up and they weren't honest with the Australian people. What we have done is put in the budget the information we have about the increase in energy prices. What the Australian people have is a government that's working hard to look at what options are available for us to deal with it.

Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

President, I rise on a point of order—

Government senators interjecting—

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Birmingham, just a moment. I will wait until there is silence from those on my right.

Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

on the question of direct relevance. Senator Hume's question was quite specific to the matters of intervention in the gas market and quoted the Treasurer as saying the government would act with 'some urgency' on that. Senator Hume purely asked whether the government would clarify its position by the end of this sitting fortnight. I ask you to draw the minister, who's had ample opportunity to traverse a whole range of other energy policy questions, to the specific direct question that was asked.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Wong, on the same point of order?

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

President, on the point of order, I would refer you to some of the rulings of Senator Ryan, who made the point that opposition senators should not be surprised, if there's a political statement in the opening of the question, if the response to the question is somewhat wider. The senator chose to frame her question in terms of certainty or lack thereof. I put it to you, President, that, consistent with past rulings, the minister is entitled to pick up the issue of certainty, which she is doing.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There was a preamble to the question and it did deal with urgency. I believe that the minister is being relevant. To the question of direct relevance, because there was a preamble there, I think the minister is entitled to canvass both the preamble and the specific question.

Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Can I ask you to review the Hansard of that question, President? The only preamble related to quoting the Treasurer. Then the question—it wasn't a preamble—off the back of the Treasurer's statement around urgency went to uncertainty in the gas prices and the gas market. I advise you to look. It was a very tightly worded question, President.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Birmingham. There was a preamble to the question, however it's phrased, and the minister is entitled to go there. I will review the Hansard, but my ruling remains. Minister, you've got 22 seconds.

Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The second thing we did was deal with the supply shortfall that we were advised about by the ACCC, and what we're doing now is to sensibly work through options to deal with ensuring we get reasonable prices into the market. That's what the government are doing right now.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Hume, first supplementary?

Jane Hume (Victoria, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Earlier today the Treasurer told journalists:

… we have made it very clear that we are interested in a temporary, meaningful, responsible, sensible intervention in the energy market …

Minister, why is it that the government, which couldn't make up their mind prebudget, couldn't make up their mind before the sittings this week, now can't commit to doing so before the parliament rises for this year?

Hon. Senators:

Honourable senators interjecting—

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Before I call the minister, I'll remind senators that the person asking the question has the right to be heard in silence, as does the minister. Minister Gallagher.

Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In terms of what this government is doing, we're keeping the lights on, we're addressing the supply shortfall and now we're looking at options around price. After nine years of delay, neglect and disorderly conduct from over there because no-one could agree on what to do, we are cleaning it up. In terms of power, we had four gigawatts of dispatchable power exit under your watch and only one gigawatt come in. We're dealing with all of these issues. In six months we have done more—much more—than you did in your three terms in office. We are working hard to resolve it. We are explaining, and I couldn't have put it better myself than the Treasurer, in terms of the language he used. It is complex. If there was a silver bullet, don't you think someone would have deployed it by now? We are working through the options sensibly and meaningfully in a temporary way, as was explained during the estimates hearings.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Hume, second supplementary?

Jane Hume (Victoria, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The government's budget actually cut policies and programs designed to increase Australia's future gas supply. At the same time, the government abandoned its promise to reduce electricity prices by $275. Isn't it a fact that only gas market policies that have actually been announced by the Albanese government are making a difficult situation worse and not better?

Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We are doing exactly what we said we'd do. Where we have cut programs, it was because there wasn't a business case, there wasn't information about what was going to happen with that money or they were decisions that were taken but hadn't been funded. We're cleaning up your mess again.

In terms of passing the climate legislation, we've done that. We're doing exactly what we said we would do: we're implementing Powering Australia. The simple fact of the matter is renewable energy is the cheapest form of energy. So, if we can get more renewable energy into the grid through our Powering Australia plan, then that will put downward pressure on prices. We are doing exactly what we said we'd do. And, in terms of these short-term pressures caused by the war in Ukraine and the neglect of the last nine years, we are working through options that will provide some relief to manufacturers, businesses and households where we can, and we're working with states and territories on that.