Josh Frydenberg (Kooyong, Liberal Party, Minister for the Environment and Energy) Share this | Hansard source

Come in, spinner! The honourable member should know that, under the Labor Party, power bills would always be higher—much higher—because the Labor Party did not support the abolition of the carbon tax. The Labor Party did nothing. The ACCC have told us that, as a result of the abolition of the carbon tax, the average Australian household has been better off overall by $550. The Prime Minister, with the retailers, is seeing millions of Australians get a better deal. And we know that 50 per cent of Australian households have not moved retailers or contracts in the last five years, despite them being able to make savings of more than $1,000 or more. And what about the networks? Under the Labor Party, the regulator returns were around 10 per cent. Under the coalition now, it's just above six per cent. That means those people in Sydney can be up to $300 a year better off. And what about the decision to abolish the limited merits review process to stop the networks gaming the system? Well, those honourable members opposite who live in New South Wales were just slugged an additional $3.5 billion, courtesy of that limited merits review process. If the Labor Party had done anything when they were in office to abolish that, consumers in New South Wales would have been $3½ billion better off. That is why we have taken action on this front. This is also why the Prime Minister has worked diligently to ensure that there's more gas supplied into the domestic market, and we have seen the spot market fall.

But I have to say that the Labor Party, without having any answers on energy policy, and a track record of a 100 per cent increase, has actually left itself vulnerable now, to the point that it is making up the facts—facts that have been contradicted by the Australian Energy Regulator and by the Australian Energy Market Commission. The Leader of the Opposition sent out a tweet saying that the Liberals have delivered power bills that have been more than $1,000. Well, we've heard from the Australian Energy Market Commission and the Australian Energy Regulator that that is false. This reminds us of Mediscare—this reminds us of the shameful Mediscare lie.

Ms Catherine King interjecting—

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