Peter Hendy (Eden-Monaro, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for the Environment. I refer to the Australian Capital Territory's draft electricity price determination that shows that prices would fall by 12 per cent without a carbon tax. Will the minister inform the House what steps the government has taken to deliver this price reduction?

Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Minister for the Environment) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I particularly want to acknowledge the fact that the member for Eden-Monaro is a distinguished former head of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. In that role he worked with numerous small, medium and large businesses, and was always concerned about unnecessary bills, electricity bills and bad bills of all kinds. Against that background, on this day of all days, we should all be concerned about unnecessary costs on Australian businesses and Australian workers. The context for this question is against immense global pressure on Australian firms and immense internal pressures on the costs facing Australian firms. These matters define the Australia of today. Global costs and domestic costs, global challenges and domestic challenges—these are the great challenges that we face. Against that background, the question was what steps are we taking to reduce electricity prices?

Mr Snowdon interjecting—

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Lingiari will withdraw that comment.

Mr Snowdon interjecting—

Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Minister for the Environment) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Exactly as the Prime Minister promised, the first piece of legislation introduced by this House was repeal of the carbon tax. Exactly as the Prime Minister promised, the first piece of legislation passed by this House was repeal of the carbon tax.

Mr Champion interjecting —

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member for Wakefield, it saddens me to say, will remove himself from the House under standing order 94(a).

The member for Wakefield then left the chamber.

Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Minister for the Environment) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On 2 December, of which we will face the three-month anniversary next weekend, the Senate received the carbon tax bills. Right now we are waiting for the Leader of the Opposition, who professes his concern about jobs and costs, to do something about jobs and costs. We can actually make a difference to electricity costs, because what was it that the ACT regulator said?

The Commission estimates that complete removal of the price on carbon … would reduce retail electricity prices in the ACT by about 12 per cent.

But it is not just in the ACT. In Queensland, the QCA said, as quoted by the Minister for Trade in Queensland:

Businesses would save between 7 and 10 per cent on their electricity bills depending on which tariff they are using. The only people standing between small business operators and lower electricity bills are your local Labor Senators

The head of the ACCC has also said that electricity prices would fall. The head of the Energy Supply Association has also said electricity prices would fall. Only two days ago, what we heard from EnergyAustralia is that they gave their guarantee to pass on the full cost of electricity reductions. If you want lower electricity prices, get the Leader of the Opposition to get out of the way in the Senate.