Dan Tehan (Wannon, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction) Share this | Hansard source

It's no wonder that the Minister for Climate Change and Energy didn't come into the chamber to speak on this bill, because, if you'd ever wanted an example of how out of touch this minister is, this is just another example of it. What we've seen since the election is that the government has had to walk away from their commitment to reduce Australians' power bills by $275. After looking the Australian people in the eye on it, on over 90 occasions, they've now had to walk away from it.

It was funny today in the MPI. They've got new talking points. Guess what the new talking points say? 'Every time you mention that energy prices are going to go down, you've got to say "in the long term".' These are the new talking points: 'Energy prices will go down in the long term.' People remember that it wasn't just a commitment to reduce power bills by $275 by the end of this year; there was also a further commitment. Now, obviously, you're walking away from that as well. That's why this expression 'in the long term' has come in.

Of course, the minister won't come in and speak to this bill because he knows that what it will show is how embarrassing the situation is that he has got Australia into. Energy bills aren't going down; everyone knows that. Everyone sees it every three months when they open their power bill. When they open their electricity bill, it's up by 39 per cent. Their gas bill is up by 38 per cent. They've heard the recent inflation numbers. What was the inflation number from yesterday? It showed that electricity costs rose by 23.6 per cent for the year to September, and the only reason they didn't rise further is that you had to subsidise those bills. Those are the facts. And yet here we are.

Given all of this—that prices are going through the roof—what is the first bill the minister brings into the parliament? Guess what it is. It's about shuffling the deckchairs in the bureaucracy. It beggars belief, seriously! We've got energy prices going through the roof, and Minister Bowen decides, 'What I need to do is shuffle the deckchairs.' That's really going to fix the issues!

We've had, just this week, the announcement that Tomago, sadly, is likely to close. Over 5,000 workers are going to lose their jobs. And guess what the minister is here doing, as his first bill? He's shuffling the deckchairs in the bureaucracy. So it's no wonder he sent another minister in to do it, because it would just show once again what a complete and utter farce this minister is.

As a matter of fact, the only job that should go from these higher electricity prices is the minister's job. That is the job that should go, not the jobs of those poor workers out there. We're going to keep reminding you every single day of that fact. This is just another example of why that minister should move on, given the crisis that we're starting to see with electricity prices, because here he is, shuffling the deckchairs of the bureaucracy. How out of touch can you get? It beggars belief.

It's complete silence from them, over there, because they know that they don't have anything to say in response. When they're out in their constituencies, what are they hearing? They're hearing that electricity prices continue to rise. Our No. 1 priority will be to reduce electricity prices, to put downward pressure on electricity prices. That is what we will do. The minister isn't here. He was too embarrassed to come in because this is the first bill he's put into this parliament on anything to do with energy since the May election, and it's about shuffling the deckchairs. I say to the minister: we will be focused on putting downward pressure on energy prices. We won't be issuing talking points which used to say, 'We will reduce your power bill by $275,' but now just say, 'Energy prices will come down in the long-term,' whatever that means. Is that by 2050, 2060 or 2070? Who would know?

See this speech in context