Jess Walsh (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I inform the Senate that the President has received the following letter from Senator Scarr:

Pursuant to standing order 75, I give notice that today I propose to move "That, in the opinion of the Senate, the following is a matter of urgency:

"The need for the Albanese Labor Government to admit that power bills across Australia have increased significantly since coming to office, despite Prime Minister Albanese saying 97 times before the election that power bills would be reduced by $275 by 2025."

Is the proposal supported?

More than the number of senators required by the standing orders having risen in their places—

With the concurrence of the Senate, the clerks will set the clock in line with the informal arrangements made by the whips.

Paul Scarr (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Multicultural Engagement) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That, in the opinion of the Senate, the following is a matter of urgency:

The need for the Albanese Labor Government to admit that power bills across Australia have increased significantly since coming to office, despite Prime Minister Albanese saying 97 times before the election that power bills would be reduced by $275 by 2025.

I'm very pleased my colleagues supported the discussion of this very important matter of urgency. In the weeks leading up to the next federal election, now is the time for the people of Australia to consider the promises that were made by the now Labor government before the last federal election. Now is the time for the Australian people to write the report card of the Albanese Labor government. Now is the time to consider the promises that were made before Australians voted and to look at the reality after three years of the Albanese Labor government.

Now Prime Minister Albanese promised 97 times to cut power bills. On 3 December 2021, he said that the Labor Party's plan:

… will cut power bills for families and businesses by $275 a year for homes by 2025, compared to today.

We're now in 2025, and what's the result? Power bills have gone up, not down. They've gone up.

Our Powering Australia Plan will create over 600,000 jobs. It will reduce energy prices in the national energy market for households by $275.

That was the Prime Minister at a doorstop on 4 December 2021.

I've got pages and pages of these quotes. No fewer than 17 times in December 2021, the now Prime Minister promised that power bills would decrease by, on average, $275. He promised it 17 times in December 2021. Then we go into January 2022. It was the same thing. I quote from a press conference on 3 January 2022:

… reducing energy prices by $275 for the average household.

That's what the now Prime Minister said on 3 January 2022. This is what he said on 7 January:

It'll cut average power bills for households by $275 by 2025.

At a doorstop on 7 January, he said:

… reducing power bills for households by $275 by 2025.

It goes on and on. Here's a great one; this one is one of my favourites. On 12 January 2021, this is what the Prime Minister said:

It would see—

that's the Labor Party's power plan—

640,000 jobs created and a reduction in power bills on average of $275 by 2025. It's a practical plan.

That's what the Prime Minister said at a doorstop on 12 January 2021.

Another 10 times in January, he said that power prices would go down by, on average, $275. And then there's more. In February and in March, there were more of these promises. In my home state of Queensland, at a rally on 3 April 2022—about three years ago—he said that the Albanese government would:

… lower household power bills by $275 a year by 2025.

That was the promise that the now Prime Minister made to the people of my home state of Queensland. What's the reality? Power prices have gone up. They haven't gone down; they've gone up, on average, by $1,000 for your average household. We've seen wholesale prices skyrocket by 83 per cent in the past year, with record highs in New South Wales and Queensland, proving that Labor's 2022 pre-election energy modelling was a complete and utter fantasy. Labor's energy approach has, in fact, come at five times the cost that Australians were initially promised. So where my office is located, in the federal electorate of Blair, households in Ipswich and the Somerset region are under financial stress. They are struggling to make ends meet.

Deborah O'Neill (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Right now, every Australian family knows that cost of living is front and centre, and it is front and centre for the Albanese Labor government too. We know that one of the points of pressure on household budgets is the power bill, and that's why, instead of just talking about it and fearmongering about it, the Albanese Labor government has made energy bill relief a top priority. We have delivered three rounds of direct relief. That's $75 deducted from your bill each quarter. Go and have a look at the black print on your bill. It shows that we're trying to help, because we know that this is an issue for you.

In addition to that, we've acted to cap gas and energy prices, and now we're going to go even further in helping you with your household bill by taking another $150 straight off your power bill—and it'll be written there for you to see—so that we honour our commitment to you, because, when families are doing it tough, we in the Labor Party and in the Albanese Labor government understand that it's time for us to take responsibility and to step in and help. What we're doing is real, practical support, and it's also sound economic management. We want to provide relief to you while keeping downward pressure on inflation.

The reality is that those opposite talk a big game on economics but, when Peter Dutton and his team last left office, inflation had a six in front of it and interest rates were climbing. Now, under the Albanese Labor governments responsible economic management, inflation has a two in front of it and, thankfully, interest rates are falling. While we're focused on supporting Australians, what's Mr Dutton doing? Well, let's be clear. He stood in the way. He said no. He opposed the $300 energy bill relief that we put in place to help you, and, instead of a real plan, he has cooked up a reckless $600 billion—with a 'b'—nuclear scheme, or fantasy. Really, that's what it is; it's a fantasy so costly that he will have to cut Medicare and slash essential services to pay for it. Let's be clear. Peter Dutton's cuts mean you pay.

What's worse is that Mr Dutton's desire to go nuclear won't deliver. Mr Dutton's own modelling shows that his nuclear gamble won't lower bills. It'll lock in more of the expensive, ageing coal plants already pushing up our prices. The Australian Energy Regulator has made it clear. Coal plants break down, especially ageing ones, and that's what we've got in Australia. Transmission bottlenecks drove 23 high-price events in just the last quarter, because what's really intermittent in our system now is our ageing coal fired power plants. They're past their use-by date.

We're focused on the future, and that's why, in contrast to Mr Dutton, every step we've taken has been to expand renewables and put downward pressure on prices. We did that in 2022. It was true then and it's true now, and that's why we're reforming the whole electricity system to make it easier for Australians to switch to better energy deals, remove excessive fees and ensure everyone gets the concessions that they are entitled to.

Last week's default market offer highlighted the urgency of this task, which we are taking seriously, but it also showed that competition is working. Plans up to 25 per cent cheaper than the benchmark are out there, and we want every family to check that they are getting the best deal. Visit the Energy Made Easy website. Don't leave money on the table for the energy providers; keep it in your family's income and in your own budget. Let me be clear, Australians face a real choice: a government that's honest and that backs them in tough times, or Peter Dutton, whose cuts you will pay for. Don't take the risk.

Malcolm Roberts (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

No-one trusts politicians, because of lies. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese promised Australia that power bills would come down $275 by 2025; 2025 is here and power bills have never been more expensive, and they're still increasing. Australians are constantly told wind and solar are cheapest. That might be the greatest lie in Australian political history, and that is saying something. Well, after 20 years of connecting all the wind, solar, batteries and pumped hydro to the grid, power bills have never been higher.

This is a motion from the Liberal Party, complaining, yet it says nothing about the reason power bills are still so expensive. There is a reason why Queenslanders are worried about running their air conditioning and why local small businesses are closing: that's net zero. There's only one elected party in the Senate that opposes the net zero scam, and that's One Nation. We are the only ones that truly believe in making power bills cheaper. Labor is committed to wind and solar—super expensive. The Liberals the Nationals are committed to wind, solar and nuclear—very expensive. None of them will promise that your power bills will come down under their plan, because they can't. The truth is that under net zero Australia faces decades of increasing power prices.

There's a big secret that every politician in this room knows yet won't say out loud: the absolute cheapest way to run an electricity grid today is coal. Even if you believe in net zero, let's have a serious look. Australia's annual carbon dioxide production is 465 million tonnes. India and China together are 16 billion tonnes, 35 times as much. India and China are allowed to buy Australia's coal and use it, yet Australians can't use their own coal here in our country. One Nation would get rid of this nonsense. We have a plan to bring down power prices permanently. Right now, baseload power is told to immediately shut down whenever wind and solar unpredictably turn on. Coal is what's known as baseload power; it's designed to run effectively and efficiently, 24/7, up to 98 per cent of the time. Turning baseload power off completely in unplanned ways is a huge problem. This leads to much higher prices, increased maintenance costs and, in some cases, power stations breaking down owing to the abuse they weren't designed for.

The solution is very simple: just guarantee baseload power the minimum time needed to keep spinning. Wind and solar can fill in the rest if they happen to turn on. The most conservative scenario is that this will bring down power prices 20 per cent immediately. Taken to full effect, this could bring power bills down 50 per cent. The Liberals, Labor and the Nationals will never bring down your power bills like this, because they are completely committed to net zero nonsense—net zero lies. One Nation, and only One Nation, will put more money back in your pocket.

Susan McDonald (Queensland, National Party, Shadow Minister for Resources) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to talk to you about the urgency motion on power bills and the need for the Albanese Labor government to admit that power bills across Australia have increased significantly since they came to office and made this promise—nearly 97 times—that power bills would be reduced by $275. Instead, the exact opposite has happened. In fact, power bills have increased by around $1,300. Now, if there's something you can say about Labor, it is that they are even-handed, because not only have they put downward pressure on big business but they've also put downward pressure on small business, and that results in downward pressure on families. It is families who are bearing the brunt of the Albanese government's rush to renewables—this crazy, 'all eggs in one basket', physics-defying energy policy that they have embraced.

What do higher prices mean? They mean that big businesses that manufacture are having to load share. They are having to stop work. They are having to reduce profitability and productivity and, in some cases, put off jobs. What do they mean for small businesses? Since Labor got into government, 29,000 small businesses have gone to the wall—due, in large part, to the increase in power prices. What does that mean? It means that those businesses don't operate. It means that they don't pay tax. They certainly don't employ people, and they don't employ apprentices or people in regional places—places where there aren't government jobs. Finally, what do they mean for families? If it's not bad enough that you might be paying so much more for electricity that you're having to choose whether or not to send the kids to sport or enjoy some time as a family going to the movies or doing something else—and we're seeing homelessness peak under this Albanese Labor government—we're also seeing families losing jobs in big businesses and small businesses that have already been put to the wall by this Labor government.

We're coming up to an election very soon, and there is a very clear decision for Australians. Under the Albanese Labor government, another three years will cripple Australia. It will cripple Australian families and businesses; it will cripple jobs and future prosperity. That's what another three years of this economically destructive government looks like. Or you could choose a different path, a path back to prosperity and being the nation that we have enjoyed, with opportunities for all. If you care to work hard, move to regional places, build your own business and raise your family, that can be a great life. But, under the Albanese Labor government, Australians are looking at a very grim future.

The upside is, of course, that Labor governments, both federal and state, can feel very pious about what they believe they're delivering with a renewables-only energy plan—but it also looks like Australians being very poor. That is not an acceptable choice in a country that is blessed with an abundance of natural resources, whether it be uranium, coal, gas or, yes, sun and wind. Under the Albanese Labor government, we're going to disregard all of those blessings. We are going to continue down a road where we provide subsidies for energy bills that will cost the Australian taxpayer $6.8 billion but leave them with nothing after paying that bill. The coalition is proposing structural change to energy plans and energy delivery—something that will leave Australians more prosperous, with more jobs, more industry, more taxes and more ability to deliver the important programs, like Medicare and the NDIS. We are economically responsible to deliver that.

Gerard Rennick (Queensland, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to support this motion. This motion is 100 per cent correct. Prime Minister Albanese said a number of times that he was going to lower power prices. He didn't. But do you know what? That's yesterday's news. That's yesterday's news in the sense of what we are going to do about it.

I have to call out my good friend and former colleague Senator Scarr here. I'm disappointed he's not in the chamber to hear this, but I hope he's listening. Senator Scarr is someone with a finance background who should be talking about the solutions. He is better than just whingeing and wailing. I have to say one refreshing thing about being up in this end of the chamber is that I no longer have to sit there and beat out the same old boring talking points about how bad Labor is.

You know what? I've got news for you two major parties: the Australian people are sick of government, period. They see it as toxic, weak and insipid. What they want for a change is some politicians to come out and offer some solutions. We can all sit in this chamber day in, day out and beat each other up, but the people out there listening to this want to know what we are going to do about it. In business, in the real world, this is not the way things are done. It is not the way business is conducted. We sit down and we look for solutions, so I say to Senator Scarr and the Liberal Party—with the greatest respect to the Labor Party, I joined the Liberal Party, so I expect more from them—lift your game. Come in here and talk about your solutions and how you're going to provide better opportunities for your children. I see Senator Scarr and Senator McDonald sitting here whingeing, and then there is People First. We are a better option because we've got solutions.

Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Scarr for putting this motion forward because it's important to remind the Australian people that those in the now opposition, who vote against every cost-of-living measure, including energy relief, were in government for a decade. They had 22 policies in this area and delivered not one of them. It is a great opportunity to remind the Australian people of what we have done as a government, coming into government after the huge debt we inherited from those opposite, who made a complete mess. What we already invested in helping Australian families and small businesses with energy costs was so welcomed by the Australian community, and tonight's budget will see another $150 going to Australians and to Australian businesses.

What we haven't got from those opposite are any policies other than nuclear, and the shadow Treasurer can't even put a cost on nuclear energy. What we've got is the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Dutton, trying to ensure they are a small target. He's on a very tight chain. He can't be allowed to have a complete media conference, because people are very concerned about what he might say. This government has done everything that it has been able to do to relieve the cost of living for Australian families. We believe in renewable energy. We believe that is the way of the future. As senator for the great state of Tasmania I know what hydro energy has done for our community. Australians will always look to a government to show leadership in this area. We have introduced measure after measure, whether it was increasing Medicare or energy relief for people to get through the cost of living. We have put our money where our mouth is, we have outlined what our policies are and we are very proud to stand behind those.

The opposition think they can go to this next election without any policies apart from nuclear. They can't even put a figure on how much that's going to cost, let alone when it's going to be introduced, but what we know from people who have the expertise is that it's going to cost Australian families and businesses more money. We have seen those opposite trying to rewrite history. They voted against every cost-of-living measure, then all of a sudden they vote for the first round of energy relief. They opposed it, but now because there's an election coming we have Mr Dutton wanting to be seen to be supporting this and supporting that. The Australian people see through that, and they know that, if you vote Liberal in your local electorate—like in the seat of Bass, if you vote for the current member—the reality is you're going to end up with Peter Dutton as the Prime Minister. That is a risk to the state of Tasmania and to the country that I believe the Australian people will think very seriously about, because they are concerned about someone they know nothing about, who makes gaffe after gaffe.

We've got a cyclone about to hit Queensland and northern New South Wales and what does he do as leader? He goes off to a Liberal Party fundraiser. He's the first to point the finger at everyone else, but he has shown that he doesn't have the leadership skills. He's come out with a policy of cutting. He's going to cut, cut, cut. What he's saying to the Australian people is: 'I'm not going to tell you what I'm going to cut, other than we're going to cut the Public Service. Just trust me.' Well, there's a history of Australian people trusting Liberal opposition leaders and ending up being very, very disappointed. After the time that the coalition have had in opposition and the fact that they can't come up with any policies—they've got a shadow Treasurer who can't—it's going to be really interesting on Thursday night. I can hardly wait for the puppet show on Thursday night—that the Liberal Party have finally found a heart. I put my faith in the Australian people that they see through Peter Dutton and that they also see through the Liberals and the Nationals, whom they've been let down by time and time again. They won't tolerate this by putting them back into government this election.

Maria Kovacic (NSW, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to thank Senator Scarr for bringing this matter of urgency before the Senate, because he's right: the matter at hand is urgent. Australian power prices have skyrocketed under this government. It's important that we point that out, despite what Senator Rennick said. We need to hold government to account. That is our job in opposition.

It is not okay that Australians are worried when they get their electricity bill. They're worried about how high it's going to be this time and whether they're going to be able to pay it. 'Do I have to go into a payment arrangement with my energy supplier, and how long before I can pay it off?' That is entirely unacceptable, but it is the lot of many Australians when they get their power bill.

These costs have skyrocketed despite the Prime Minister promising 97 times before the last election that power bills would be reduced by the magical figure of $275. We've talked about that a lot because we need to talk about it a lot. We need to point out this fundamental failure. This wasn't something that was mentioned once or twice, or offhandedly here and there. It was mentioned 97 times prior to the last election. It's what is called an election promise. This government was elected on the back of promises that this Prime Minister has failed to keep over and over and over again. Few were of greater significance than their energy policy, and they made some grand promises.

Not only has there not been a cut of $275 but power bills have risen, on average, by $1,300 for households in my state of New South Wales. This is more than a mere inconvenience. It is a massive economic blow. It is even worse for small-business owners. It's a massive impost on their costs, where their bills have doubled and tripled. Across the nation this is having catastrophic consequences. We have seen 29,000 businesses close their doors under this government's watch. Energy prices are a key factor in this business failure epidemic. Wherever I go and speak to small-business operators, and ask them what their one most significant impact is in terms of costs, they always mention their energy costs. It's another layer in Labor's cost-of-everything crisis.

What is Labor's solution? It's a $150 rebate. That's right—$150. Let's spend $6.8 billion of taxpayer money on an attempt to subsidise energy bills. Yet, despite this colossal expenditure, energy prices will continue to rise. This $150 rebate is nothing more than a short-term fix designed to buy votes before an election. The truth is that $150 will not even come close to covering those costs. It is an insult to the Australians who are struggling to pay their bills, who are working their guts out and who still can't pay their bills. They can't afford the things that their family needs, not because they are not working—it's not because they aren't trying; it's not because they aren't doing their best—but because the cost of everything is spiralling out of control. Not means testing this rebate is another failure of this government. It means that households who do not need financial assistance are getting it anyway. They will receive the same $150 rebate as those people who are struggling to pay their bills, the same rebate that small businesses who are on the brink, who are closing their doors, will get. This is a flawed and inefficient system that fails to target relief where it is truly needed.

In Australia, a family with a typical mortgage has paid an extra $50,000 in interest payments since Labor came to government, and Labor wants us to think that $150 off your electricity bill is going to help. I think there might have been a better way to invest $6.8 billion of taxpayer money, and it is an insult to all of us that they have decided to do this yet again. Labor's inability to manage the economy has left Australians and small businesses vulnerable to rising costs, and they're struggling to survive.

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

The question is that the urgency motion as moved by Senator Scarr be agreed to.