Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I asked the Minister for Climate Change and Energy what I thought was a very reasonable question in question time today. I put to him: why hasn't anyone—just anybody at all—in the Albanese Labor government taken responsibility and just said sorry for failing to deliver the $275 energy bill reduction promised to Australian families? And what did he do back to me? He quoted Taylor Swift. Well, I want to quote another political philosopher, Shania Twain, who once famously said: 'That don't impress me much—oh, oh, ooh. So you got the brains, but have you got the touch?'

Well, I would argue about the minister and brains—I will give him some credit—but he's certainly lost touch with ordinary, everyday Australians. They are hurting. They hurt, especially, every time they get their energy bills because their energy bills are going up and up and up. Indeed, there's been a 38 per cent increase in power costs for the average householder, and this is hurting. Couple that with the cost-of-living crisis, and you can understand why people out there, outside this building, think that the minister has lost touch. And he has; it's sad. We know that energy is the economy. We know, certainly, that food production costs are increasing. The poor old farmers are price takers, not price makers, and their bottom lines are reducing appreciably.

I'm surrounded by my Nats colleagues. We've got the members for Page, Parkes, Lyne, Hinkler and Nicholls—all great food-growing areas, along with the Riverina. I appreciate there are probably some members over there who have areas where food and fibre are grown. I just saw the member for Durack turn around; she's got the biggest electorate in the world. But it takes energy to produce food, and energy is getting more and more expensive. Whether it's the Sunraysia or the Riverina—or wherever it is—it is just costing our farmers so much more. Every step of the way, they are being stymied by this Labor government. They're having to pay more for water, for inputs and for power. But the cost is also being borne by everybody, every time they go to a supermarket. They get to the register and see that they've got less in their trolley, but it's costing them more. They can't afford it. They're having to make expensive decisions, and it costs their families; it does. We heard—earlier, in question time—about families having to choose one sport over another for their kids. This Labor government is just rushing policy through this place in haste. They're not considering the average, ordinary, everyday Australian when they make these policy decisions on the run.

We heard the member for Nicholls talking about renewables. He's right—there's nothing wrong with renewables, but it has to be in balance. Indeed, one in four homes had rooftop solar under the former coalition government. It was the highest in the world. I know the Labor government crow about it and say, 'Oh, we're fantastic in that regard,' but we were getting to work on reducing power costs.

Those opposite are only hurting people with higher energy prices, and it has to stop. The buck has to stop somewhere; it stops with this government. The government said they were going to address the cost-of-living crisis but spent the first 18 months putting in place a $450 million referendum on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice, dividing Australians and, certainly, getting nothing from that. When you get the minister responsible for hoping to bring down energy costs, all he can do is quote Taylor Swift—nothing against Taylor Swift, but he needs to get absolutely serious about the energy costs of this country.

In the Upper Lachlan shire, where they actually support 53 per cent of New South Wales's green energy projects, they're getting blackouts all the time. Then they're expected to put in more towers—towers as high as 260 metres. It's going to cover the countryside of the Yass Valley and the Upper Lachlan shire, when they're already paying the most when it comes to green energy projects. It has to stop. This government has to stop the reckless rollout of renewable projects, because it's hurting regional Australia, particularly my electorate of Riverina.

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