Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you for protecting me against the member for Corangamite. As she is well aware, wholesale power prices have doubled under the government of which she is a member. There has been an 88 per cent collapse in private investment in new generation on their watch. Under the Turnbull government, power prices are up, pollution is up and jobs are down. What a trifecta! I know that Dr Finkel is doing all he can to ensure that the National Electricity Market, which services the eastern side of Australia not the Northern Territory and Western Australia, can achieve the best for consumers and for business.

I note comments by Dr Finkel in Senate estimates on 1 June where he said:

… the actual cost of bringing on new coal in this country per megawatt hour is projected to be substantially more expensive than the cost of bringing on wind or solar.

I know that the minister is a youngish minister with young children and will be doing all that he can for the future of this planet. I know that he has a good heart and is trying to do the right thing. In light of that, Minister, I am asking you: do you and your party agree with Dr Finkel's comments to Senate estimates on 1 June that large-scale renewable projects are cheaper than new coal power stations?

Following this, the peak business body, the Australian Industry Group, has said that a new coal-fired power station could only recoup its costs if wholesale electricity prices are sustained at around double their historic average level. Given industry does not back the proposal of building a new coal-fired power station, and Dr Finkel has also said that renewable projects are cheaper than new coal power stations, do you still support the development of a coal-fired power station for Central Queensland and/or North Queensland?

Minister, I note that you referred to the city of Townsville, and I note that the member for Dawson's electorate extends up into the southern suburbs of Townsville, and you talked about jobs in Townsville. I note that the member for Dawson is calling for the power station to be state owned or owned by the Commonwealth; he has not quite made that clear. I am not sure if we have a lot of engineers and electricians working for the Commonwealth, but I note that the member for Dawson has a marginal seat and that you need the member for Dawson's support to govern. Will you soon be attending the sod-turning on the Malcolm Turnbull Memorial Commonwealth Coal-Fired Technology-Neutral Power Station? When you do that sod-turning, Minister, will you be making a comment to Dr Finkel about his statement, which I will repeat again:

… the actual cost of bringing on new coal in this country per megawatt hour is projected to be substantially more expensive than the cost of bringing on wind or solar.

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