Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

That's something, coming from the biggest wet newspaper in the parliament. This is the form of 'Blue Steel' over there, striking a pose with his sharp suits and his slick look, swaggering around the electorate, measuring up the curtains to the Treasurer's suite, thinking he's already there. This is a shadow Treasurer who, when he was Treasurer, was presiding over economic wreckage and a budget that was forever in deficit. That was his form when he was the Treasurer of this country. But we also know that he had a few other jobs when he was in government. He had a few other jobs, and I'll come back to those after I've had the opportunity to address what the member has addressed.

Our government is supporting tough new laws to ensure that the big electricity companies are held to account, and we would call on the Labor Party when those laws are introduced to support them and to do so this week. Failure to do so will tell every single electricity customer in Australia today that the Labor Party is for higher electricity prices and letting the big electricity companies off the hook. Our government is united on the issue of getting electricity prices down. We are united on standing up for Australians, who do not want to see higher electricity bills that would be brought about by a 45 per cent emissions reduction target. We are united on the point of ensuring that those big electricity companies are held to account for what they do to Australian customers. That's what we'll be bringing into this House. And you'll have plenty of opportunity—and my challenge to the Labor Party is this: Whose side are you on? Are you on the side of Australia's electricity customers, who want lower prices, or are you on the side of the big electricity companies, which want to take the money for themselves?

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