Ralph Babet (Victoria, United Australia Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is for the Minister representing the Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Senator McAllister. Minister Bowen recently stated that electricity prices fell 17.9 per cent in the 12 months to August. He said, 'It is a good step forward and an indication that our reliable renewables energy plan is working.' He quoted the ABS August CPI indicator, stating that this was 'the largest annual fall for electricity on record'. He neglected to repeat the next sentence from that report, which states, 'The combined impact of Commonwealth state and territory rebates drove the annual fall in electricity prices.' Has Minister Bowen misled the Australian people on the underlying cause of reduced electricity bills?

Jenny McAllister (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Climate Change and Energy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The short answer is no. Our government understands that energy prices are, in fact, a very serious issue for households and for businesses, and it is why our No. 1 priority is delivering cost-of-living relief, and that includes cost-of-living relief that is targeted towards costs associated with electricity. So every Australian household is receiving $300 in energy bill relief. The truth is that the alternative plan, the plan put forward by the coalition, is a plan that would absolutely guarantee higher prices for those households.

Now, in the medium term there is work to be done because over the last decade there were 22 failed energy policies, none of which landed, that saw gigawatts of electricity leaving the system, and that dispatchable capacity was not replaced. And so, on coming to government, our policies have been aimed at stabilising that system and restoring confidence from investors so that we can actually see investment resume in the kind of electricity system that we know offers the least-cost option for consumers in the future. That, of course, is a reliable renewable plan. It does mean that wholesale energy prices are now considerably lower than when the coalition left office, and over the medium term it will mean that the Albanese government's plan is the only plan that will continue to see those prices delivered for consumers.

Now, the coalition has of course taken a different approach. They voted against energy price relief. They want to wind back the rebate that's going out to Australian families and businesses right now and, as you know, they're advocating for nuclear energy. That will add hundreds to Australian bills but will supply less than four per cent of the energy that households and businesses need.

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

Senator Ruston, your running commentary is really disrespectful. Senator Babet, first supplementary?

Ralph Babet (Victoria, United Australia Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Minister, you've just said there that the cost of power has come down under your government's leadership. Can you advise what change in electricity prices would have occurred without using taxpayer money to temporarily—and artificially, in my opinion—reduce electricity bills?

Jenny McAllister (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Climate Change and Energy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I do have those numbers here somewhere in my folder! I can tell you the consequence of the Commonwealth rebates and what prices would have been. For example, in Victoria, the year-on-year change for an average standing offer was a 23 per cent reduction. Had the rebates not been in place, it would have been down six per cent. In Western Australia, the consequence of the relief that was put in place by the Australian government saw an estimated 13 per cent reduction, but, had the bill relief not been in place, it would have been a two per cent increase. In Tasmania, there was a 14 per cent reduction as a consequence of our measures. Had those measures not been in place, the reduction would have been only three per cent. (Time expired)

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

Senator Babet, second supplementary?

Ralph Babet (Victoria, United Australia Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Minister, the Australian Bureau of Statistics noted in the same report that I referred to earlier that, excluding rebates, electricity costs for households would have increased 16.6 per cent since June 2023. Is a 16.6 per cent increase an indication that your so-called 'renewable energy plan' is working or not working?

Jenny McAllister (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Climate Change and Energy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As everyone here understands—I think even those opposite understand it—we inherited an absolute mess in the energy system when we came into government. The average wholesale price when we came to government was $286 a megawatt hour. Retail prices had increased up to almost 20 per cent, which those opposite shamefully sought to hide, taking active steps to hide on the eve of an election. The truth is that a driver of that—a significant driver—was a lack of investment, caused by uncertainty driven by policy dysfunction, denial and chaos within the government of those opposite. Another driver, of course, was our exposure to international energy prices, international gas prices, which were going up as a consequence of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. So we are responding to that mess. We are responding to the mess that was left by those opposite. (Time expired)