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

I move:

That this House notes that:

(1) the Government's energy policies have seen a record number of Australians having an energy debt and facing a 24 per cent increase in their electricity bills in the next six months;

(2) Australians were promised a $275 cut to their power bills by last Christmas and $378 lower by 2030;

(3) Australians, instead, are paying up to $1,300 more;

(4) electricity costs rose by 21.5 per cent in the 12 months to December 2025; and

(5) instead of lower energy costs, as promised by the Government, Australians are now paying more due to the policies of the Government.

For the benefit of the House, I'm going to read parts of the motion out because I think it's very important that this is noted. It says:

(1) the Government's energy policies have seen a record number of Australians having an energy debt and facing a 24 per cent increase in their electricity bills in the next six months …

It notes that:

(2) Australians were promised a $275 cut to their power bills by last Christmas and $378 lower by 2030 …

(3) Australians, instead, are paying up to $1,300 more;

I'm going to repeat that: it's $1,300 more. It says:

(3) electricity costs rose by 21.5 per cent in the 12 months to December 2025; and

(5) instead of lower energy costs, as promised by the Government, Australians are now paying more due to the policies of the Government.

What Chris Bowen, the energy minister, is doing to electricity prices in this country is nothing short of a disgrace. And he won't be up-front with the Australian people, he won't be honest with the Australian people about what is happening. We see it in the parliament day after day after day. He's asked: 'What is happening to retail prices in this country? Are you going to be able to deliver your $275 reduction in power bills as you promised to do?' And he will not even answer the question. He will never, ever answer the question. He goes on about wholesale prices. He says, 'Wholesale prices are doing this.' He goes on about batteries. He says, 'Batteries are doing this.' But he will not address the retail cost of electricity at the household level, where mums and dads are sitting around the kitchen table asking, 'How the hell am I going to pay this bill?' and pensioners are sitting around the kitchen table asking, 'How the hell am I going to pay this power bill?'

I challenge anyone on the Labor side who's going to speak on this motion—and there'll be two of them—to just mention the phrase '$275' and be up-front in saying: 'That was a promise we never were going to keep. We were deceitful to the Australian people. We never should have done it, and we apologise.' That would be doing the right and honourable thing. Yet I'm sure what we'll get is excuse after excuse, and we'll get example after example of everything and anything except addressing the issue about what is happening to retail electricity prices in this nation.

Let me give you a sense of how bad things are. We've just had inflation start to peak again, and, as a result, interest rates have started to go up—the 13th interest rate increase under this government. A lot of it is driven by what is happening to electricity prices. And we're likely to see two more interest rate increases, at least, over the next six months. That's because, when it comes to electricity prices, we're going to see, in the 12 months to 30 June this year, a 24 per cent increase in electricity prices. That's what's being forecast. And we've already had a 40 per cent increase in electricity prices since the Albanese Labor government came to office.

Why? Surely, Minister Bowen, you have to stop, think and say: 'We're heading in the wrong direction. We're not addressing affordability. We're not even addressing emissions reduction. We're failing on all fronts.' At the moment, electricity prices are going up. Emissions are flatlining. Electricity prices are putting pressure on inflation, which is driving interest rates up. We all know that energy is the economy. Yet Minister Bowen doesn't seem to get it. I say this to Minister Bowen and to those opposite: You can't be a part-time minister when electricity prices are going through the roof. You've got to focus 100 per cent on your day job. So you shouldn't be running around the world racking up telephone bills which are eye watering—over $60,000. Meanwhile, Australians are facing a $1,200 to $1,300 increase in their electricity bills. That's why this motion is so important, and it's why Minister Bowen should listen to it.

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