House debates

Monday, 17 August 2026

Private Members' Business

Energy

1:28 pm

Photo of Tony PasinTony Pasin (Barker, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister Assisting for Fisheries and Forestry) | Hansard source

The Albanese Labor government came to power promising cheaper power. I'd argue it was an election-defining promise. The Prime Minister uttered it no less than 96 times—you'll recall a $275 reduction, that Australians ended up never seeing, and a $378 reduction that, by 2030, they will absolutely never see. Now, the Prime Minister saying one thing before an election and doing another thing after an election is a practice he's obviously maintained in the subsequent election, telling Australians he wouldn't seek to change property taxes—on this occasion, 50 times—but he did all the same. Instead, in terms of power prices, Australians didn't get cheaper electricity; they got higher bills, greater uncertainty and a fragile grid underpinned by ideology and not economics.

It's time for those opposite to come clean, stop the spin and deliver real, affordable, reliable energy, not more broken promises. That's what our plan does, by backing in abundant, affordable, sustainable energy generation that spans the gamut from nuclear power, coal and gas to renewables, rather than this renewables-only madness that has created an experiment that's failing in South Australia, my home state.

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