Jim Chalmers (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr Speaker. The numbers that we saw today, which I ran through a moment ago, were monthly figures which are often impacted by volatile and one-off factors, and they were in this instance. The biggest influence on the number that the shadow Treasurer mentioned is the timing of the energy bill rebates that we are providing on this side of the House and that those opposite don't want us to provide. That does go to a very important difference: this side of the House providing help with electricity bills; that side of the House trying to prevent it. If they had their way, energy prices would be higher.

Let me give you some numbers in response to the question the shadow Treasurer asked me. Electricity prices in July would have been 7.9 per cent higher without the energy rebates that we are rolling out with our state and territory colleagues. The second point is that—

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