Jane Prentice (Ryan, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the member for Lyne's private member's bill, the National Electricity Bill 2012. Australians want to see real action to reverse the huge increases in electricity prices seen across our nation since 2007. Unfortunately, this bill from the member for Lyne does nothing to address those concerns, and fails to address the real underlying issues that have caused electricity prices to rise. Prices began to rise significantly in 2007 as a result of rising charges for our energy networks, including over-investment in infrastructure such as poles and wires, increases in wholesale energy costs, and other government policies—most notably the carbon tax.

First and foremost, the member for Lyne voted to pass the world's only economy-wide carbon tax. So I do question his genuine commitment towards lowering the cost of electricity for Australians. The carbon tax is expressly designed to make electricity more expensive, and to hurt the hip pocket of Australians. We know that higher electricity prices as a result of the carbon tax are already having a significant impact on Australians. In March a major energy company revealed that 65,000 customers a month are seeking extensions to pay their rising electricity and gas bills. In addition, there is the 14.5 per cent average increase in electricity costs for our manufacturing sector, which only adds to the pressure on jobs. Worse than that, Australia's carbon tax does nothing to help the environment. Instead of making any real difference in Australia, we have to buy almost 100,000,000 tonnes of emissions reduction from overseas at an annual cost to Australia by 2020 of approximately $3.7 billion per year, each year, rising to $57 billion per year by 2050. The Prime Minister promised last December to reduce power bills by $250 a year and to date has done nothing to further that goal. The Prime Minister noted that there had been significant overinvestment in poles and wires, but failed to point out that all of this occurred under decades of state Labor governments and has been noticeably silent on the situation in Queensland. We know that in Queensland in the five years to 2012 capital expenditure on poles and wires increased to more than $11 billion, resulting in an increased debt of more than $6 billion. This debt and consequent interest repayments are passed on to consumers.

As the Newman government noted in its submission to the Senate Select Committee on the Electricity Prices, these costs have been the key driver of electricity price rises over this period of time. The federal Labor government only made this pain worse by imposing the carbon tax. While the vast majority of regulatory responsibility was transferred to the Australian Energy Regulator from 1 July 2010, this is only in relation to investment in electricity distribution. That change, therefore, does not address the many other important policies which have driven up electricity prices. Ultimately I understand that significant work is being undertaken across all levels of government in Australia to address what reforms can be implemented, a process not significantly addressed by the member for Lyne's private member's bill today, nor is that process assisted with the introduction of new taxes such as the carbon tax and the mining tax.

Australians do not currently have a government that is looking after their interests. As the Leader of the Opposition highlighted in his reply to the budget, the Prime Minister guaranteed that there would be no carbon tax under a government she leads, but there is. The Prime Minister guaranteed more than 165 times that there would be a surplus, but there is not, and there never will be under this Labor government. Australia is instead now faced with seven deficits totalling $220 billion. On day one of an incoming coalition government, we will begin the process of removing the carbon tax. Legislation to scrap the carbon tax will be the first legislation to be introduced in the new parliament. The coalition will abolish the carbon tax because that is the quickest way to reduce power prices and to take pressure off the cost of living and job security. The coalition will offer hope, reward and opportunity.

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