Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

The hapless Labor Party have come into this place today, proposing a matter of public importance which highlighted some of the very real difficulties that Australian families are facing. What it allows this Senate to do, and the Australian people to understand, is that the Liberal-National Party government understand these difficulties and we are addressing them, whereas the Australian Labor Party have a recipe to make their difficult circumstances so much worse. That is the distinction that the Australian people face, and I therefore thank the Australian Labor Party for putting this MPI to us today.

Make no mistake: if the Australian Labor Party had its way, just for example, the cost of building infrastructure in this country would be 30 per cent higher because there would not be the Australian Building and Construction Commission. When you have to pay 30 per cent more for your infrastructure, if it's public, it is the taxpayer that suffers. If it is private infrastructure, the builder passes that on, or the developer passes that on—to whom? To the people who rent the premises. What do they do? They charge more for the goods and services to the consumer to cover the higher rental. So, each time Mr Shorten defends the CFMEU and says that he will abolish the Australian Building and Construction Commission, every single Australian should be aware that that is a recipe for increasing their cost of living.

We move to another issue, which I know many Australians are facing with difficulty, and that is the cost of energy. Which is the state that has the highest domestic power prices in the country—indeed, in the world?