Greg Combet (Charlton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Reid for his question. The government has been entirely up-front about the impact of the carbon price on household electricity bills, because the Treasury modelling found the carbon price would increase household electricity prices by an average of 10 per cent, which equates to an average of $3.30 per week across Australian households. To meet that impact, the government is deploying the majority of the revenue from the carbon price to implement tax cuts and increase pensions, family tax benefits and other Commonwealth payments, to an average of $10.10 per week in households across the country—$10.10 versus $3.30 a week in electricity bills.

Electricity regulator price determinations and the market itself have confirmed the Treasury modelling. In fact, in some jurisdictions the impact is less than the Treasury modelling. In South Australia, for example, the average household impact is just $1.50 per household per week. It is important to establish those facts, because the Leader of the Opposition consistently engages in a cowardly campaign of frightening people in the community and, in particular, of trying to terrify pensioners about the impact of carbon pricing.

Mr Christensen interjecting—

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