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

We went to the 2022 election with a very clear policy, and we've been implementing that policy. The Australian people endorsed that policy last year, knowing the challenges that we faced in implementing the policy. I note that in New South Wales, in May 2022, the price of energy at a wholesale level was $320 a megawatt hour, and it's now $75 a megawatt hour.

An opposition member: Wholesale!

Those over there say 'wholesale prices'. If wholesale prices don't count, why did the member for Hume promise to make them $70 a megawatt hour? To be fair to him, in full disclosure, he came nowhere near meeting that promise, because when he left office they were $280 a megawatt hour. I note that in New South Wales as well, 77,974 cheaper home batteries have been installed since 1 July, meaning those people have reduced their energy bills by up to 90 per cent, which helps them obviously and helps the entire grid as well, reducing prices for everyone. And it played no small part—

An opposition member: Rich people!

They say 'rich people' when 44 per cent of the cheaper home batteries that have been installed are in regional Australia.

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