Aaron Violi (Casey, Liberal Party) | Hansard source

Once again I have to go to my regular fact-check and remind those opposite not to take the Treasurer's talking points for granted. Our net debt was actually $517 billion when those opposite came to power, and about 30 per cent of that net debt was actually accrued during the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd era. They continue to spin this mistruth, which really sums up those opposite. It's all about political spin. It's all about running a line. If you have to keep telling people the cost of living is your No. 1 priority, it's clear that it's not and it's clear that the Australian people know that. Less spin and more delivery would be good.

This motion is very brave. It's very brave for those opposite to talk about energy prices. It's very light on as well: two points. Normally we see from the government, when they put in their motions, that there are four or five points and lots of subpoints. This is very light on. What it's missing is some detail. It's missing the number 275. It's missing the promise that the Prime Minister made 97 times before the election that they were going to reduce energy prices by $275. He also made that promise 30 times after Ukraine was invaded by Russia, yet when he was elected, he then defended not meeting his word and breaking his promise on energy by referencing the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, again showing that this government is all about spin, not about delivering for the Australian people.

What's actually happening with the electricity prices? Why do those opposite need to subsidise electricity prices? It's because it's up 21.5 per cent since the Albanese Labor government came to power. That means that households are paying more, businesses are paying more, community groups and charities are paying more. But let's be very clear: it's not just their power bills that they are paying more for. Every time you go to the grocery store, you are paying more. When you buy something at the supermarket, you are paying more because, when energy goes up, it impacts every level of the supply chain.

I was fortunate enough to spend over a decade working in fast-moving consumer goods, supplying products to Woolworths and Coles supermarkets. When energy goes up, as I said, it hits everything. It's not just the finished product. Keeping it cold at Woolworths and Coles costs more. Their energy costs more. Delivering it to the store costs more. For the supplier, their energy costs go up. Their cost of manufacturing goes up. Their raw materials go up because the farmer or the supplier that gives them the raw materials has to increase their prices. That is why it's so important that you get energy prices down, because every point along the supply chain is impacted. That's why, when you go to the store, you're seeing prices go up 10, 20 or 30 per cent. It's why you need to have a plan to address cost of living, which those opposite don't have.

But we also hear those opposite talk about costing. They're not prepared to have a mature conversation about nuclear power and the importance of the only zero emissions, baseload, scalable technology that we have in Australia. They talk about the opposition's costings, but they won't talk about their lack of costings. The Capacity Investment Scheme that the government announced last year puts a floor under electricity prices for renewables companies. It does, in fairness to them, put a ceiling on the profits they can make, but that floor is going to cost the Australian taxpayer money. Australian taxpayers are subsidising renewable energies, which is okay, but don't lecture us about no costings when you have not provided the cost for the Capacity Investment Scheme. That is going to cost billions of dollars of taxpayer money, but they're not prepared to release the costings on that. The transition has not been costed by those opposite.

So they talk about our nuclear plan. The opposition leader has said very clearly that we'll go through the locations and have a mature conversation. It would be nice if those opposite spent less time putting memes up of The Simpsons on social media and actually had an honest conversation with the Australian public, because everything impacts that supply chain, as I said, and demand is continuing to go up, whether it's immigration—more people in the country—AI or data centres. We're electrifying homes and we're moving to EVs. There is going to be so much demand on the electricity system. You need renewables, you need gas and you need nuclear to bring prices down and put more supply into the market. (Time expired)

See this speech in context