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

The honourable member asked me about election commitments we made in 2022 and energy prices over that term. That's fair, and that was traversed well in the House in the last term as well. I pointed out that, at the last election, the Leader of the Opposition called for a referendum on energy prices, and the Australian people spoke very clearly.

But, as you know, Mr Speaker, I'm always looking for a bipartisan note to strike at the dispatch box. I'm always looking for a point of agreement—partisanship does not come naturally to me. So I'm pleased to be able to report that I am able to agree with the shadow minister for energy. I'm able to approvingly quote him, because, after question time yesterday, the shadow minister for energy went on Sky News and said: 'What we've said is we went to the last election with an energy policy. The Australian people have said they supported the approach that was made by the Albanese Labor government and the policies they took to the last election.' I could haven't said it better myself. The member for Wannon has made a fair point. We made commitments in the 2022 election; we sought to implement those; the Australian people cast judgement about that on 3 May. We will continue with the instruction the Australian people gave us—that is, to continue with the work of delivering the cheapest, most reliable and cleanest form of energy, which is renewables.

Opposition members interjecting—

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