Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I want to thank the member for Fairfax for bringing this motion to the House, because not only does it give me an opportunity to talk about the failure of the current Queensland state Labor government but it also reminded me of a previous Queensland state Labor government, led by one Peter Beattie, who promised that prices would fall under his privatisation of the retailers. But we've seen that, ever since that occurred, prices have increased.

On that note, I'd like to congratulate the Minister for Energy, Angus Taylor, for his work in seeking ways to reduce electricity prices, because, at the end of the day, we know that we have an economy that is based on power and, most importantly, based on reliable, affordable power. Business in this country relies on reliable and affordable power to ensure that it can manufacture and produce the goods necessary both for Australians here locally and for our export economy. We require cheap and affordable power to ensure that we can compete on an international stage—that our products are competitive. We require cheap and affordable power to ensure that our households can turn on their lights and power their air conditioners. As the member for Fairfax rightly pointed out, at the moment in Queensland we are having some very hot weather and we need people to be comfortable that they can turn on their air conditioners when they get home from work, or, if they are elderly people, that they can afford to have their air conditioners on during the day. That is why this motion is so important.

I know firsthand, and I have seen firsthand in my electorate, the gold-plating of the electricity network by a state Labor government. There was a project put together in my electorate through Logan Reserve, Chambers Flat and Logan Village that was complete and utter gold-plating. At the time, people in the local community who had a background in the electricity industry put a number of alternative proposals to Energex that would have been half the cost of what was ultimately put in place by Energex. That is just one example locally in my electorate, but I'm aware of plenty of others across the state where those things were also done. In relation to the issue of gold-plating, we know that this government has passed legislation to prevent the power companies and the networks price gouging on those gold-plated networks. But the worst part of all in relation to this motion, and in relation to Queensland in particular—the electricity companies—is that 70 per cent of the distribution, the generation and the transmission is owned by the state government. So they have been direct beneficiaries of these gold-plated networks and, in addition, they've been direct beneficiaries of the fact that the operators of those networks have sought to get returns over and above the regulated return that was originally approved by the Australian Energy Regulator by appealing those decisions. This government has put new rules in place that prevent those energy companies from appealing the decisions of the AER, in order to reduce the cost of those energy networks.

I again thank the member for Fairfax and I call on the Queensland state government to use the opportunity they have as the 70 per cent owner of transmission and distribution across the state to reduce electricity prices, as the ACCC report has pointed out, potentially by some $419 a year, which is roughly a quarterly bill—but also, as we've seen now in another report today, a potential increase in the profits of AGL and Origin, for them to take a hit as well. (Time expired)

See this speech in context