Ted O'Brien (Fairfax, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Climate Change and Energy) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to make the point that the minister now stands and says: 'It's not about me as the minister. It's not about wanting to give myself more power. It's just whoever the minister of the day is.' But there was no complaint from the now minister previously about these powers—no complaint whatsoever. It just so happened that, when this minister became the minister, he thought the minister was best placed to make these decisions. Think about that. Here we have a situation where we've got a new minister who decides, 'I need more power.' Never before was he suggesting that somebody who acted in this capacity has this power, but, now that he is the minister, he wants that power.

This goes to the very heart of why we are concerned about this proposed amendment from the government. It is the emboldenment of power that this minister is after. Now he wishes to rise above it, be on the high moral ground and say it has nothing to do with who is the minister. 'This is in the best interests of the Commonwealth.' But when he was not the minister he was silent on this point. This is about him. This is about his agenda, and it is an agenda that has been proven to be flawed.

I will take the opportunity to point out that the minister was asked multiple questions in question time yesterday, but at not one point was he prepared to confirm on the Hansard record that he will deliver $275 reductions in household power bills. Now, I am very happy to allow the minister—actually, the minister will have an opportunity to get on his feet again after I speak. I ask you, Minister, to confirm that you will deliver on your promise of a $275 reduction in household bills for Australians.

We found out last night that the government's economic plan that said that they would deliver that $275 reduction in household power bills was wrong. Who said it was wrong? The government's own budget papers. The government's own budget papers have confirmed what the Prime Minister and this minister have not had the courage to say publicly. Despite being asked multiple questions in question time, this minister refuses to state whether or not he stands by his promise of a reduction in power prices. We found out last night—and it took the Treasury to put it in writing—that power bills are going to go up by over 50 per cent.

Where did the government get that modelling from? From modelling it had outsourced before the election. That same modelling justified their entire suite of climate and energy policies. Think about that. The minister's entire suite of policies is based on an economic model that last night we found out was entirely flawed. When you start talking about over 600,000 jobs coming out of the plan of the new government which model is it based on? The same model which is flawed.

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