Chris Bowen (McMahon, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change and Energy) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for her question. This government is extremely concerned about power prices for businesses, small, medium and large, and about power prices for industry—and for residences as well. This government has taken the approach of being straight with the Australian people about the pressures on energy prices—the pressures caused by very high coal and gas input costs.

That's why we took the approach in the budget, and why the Treasurer took the approach in the budget, of being straight with the Australian people. There was an alternative approach: the alternative approach is not to be straight with the Australian people. We took option A, to be straightforward with the Australian people. The previous government took option B, of hiding those price rises. They are in every sense the B team—option B was the one embraced by the member for Hume—

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