Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

One of the things that my government has done, of course, is introduce energy bill relief—three lots of energy bill relief, all of which were opposed by those opposite. The latest element of energy began on 1 July and will extend until December 31. We are engaging, as we have, in the immediate support for people and for small business in energy bill relief.

The second thing that we have done as a government—and I'm asked about last term—was to intervene in the gas and coal market to put a cap on prices. That was a very significant intervention, and it's true that it wasn't something that we took to the 2022 election. But it was something that we did in partnership with a responsible Liberal government, led by Dominic Perrottet, in New South Wales. What that was about was making sure that the global spike in energy—the biggest global spike in energy prices and pressure that we had seen since the 1970s—was dealt with in a responsible way. We did that in New South Wales and in Queensland in particular.

Thirdly, yesterday there was a question from the member for Monash—her first question. I congratulate her on her election to the House of Representatives and on giving her first speech in this place. In her first question, she asked in part—not her fault—about permanent reductions in people's energy bills. That is precisely what batteries storing energy from solar panels on roofs does.

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