Chris Crewther (Dunkley, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Treasurer. Will the Treasurer inform the House of how the government is working to deliver more affordable and reliable energy to all Australian businesses and households, including in my electorate of Dunkley? Will the Treasurer inform the House of any alternative approaches?

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Dunkley for his question and I thank him for his support, along with all the members on this side of the House, for the Prime Minister's plan to put downward pressure on rising electricity prices, which was outlined in this year's budget. It is about securing our gas; ensuring we get a fairer deal for consumers and businesses from the energy companies through the initiatives of the Prime Minister and the inquiries being run by the ACCC; and ensuring we remove those loopholes which have been gamed by companies, both privately owned and government owned, to drive up prices and have impacted on households and on businesses. It includes a new-energy investment framework, which we're working to deliver and which supports investment right across this spectrum, with an all-of-the-above approach when it comes to resources: from coal, of course, through to the more-renewable energy sources, the investment in Snowy 2.0 and our support for lower emissions technology. This is a comprehensive plan. It is a full plan.

Those opposite have no plan whatsoever to put downward pressure on rising electricity prices. Labor's policies are driven by emojis and ideology, not engineering and economics. That will only lead them to one thing: another big, epic Labor fail like that we saw in South Australia under the ridiculous experiment put in place by the South Australian Labor government, which switched the lights out. On top of that, they have their emissions reduction target of 45 per cent, which by their own admission, by their own modelling in government, will drive up prices by up to 80 per cent—78 per cent is what their own figures showed on their 45 per cent emissions reduction target. Their 50 per cent RET will only drive prices further up. They will shut down baseload coal-fired power stations like Liddell, which they're happy to support.

Labor's members are standing up for inner city Greens ideology; they're not standing up for the workers they're supposed to represent. The member for Hunter put the white flag up on Liddell, and today he's putting up the big white hankie for the CEOs of large energy companies. They're the people he doesn't want us to stand up to. He wants us to take away the jobs of the people who live in his own electorate. The member for Port Adelaide was no better when he was asked on radio last night what he was concerned about. He was asked: 'What would you like to see, outcome wise, from the PM's meeting with Andy Vesey from AGL?' This is what he said: 'I'd like to see the tone calm down a little bit.' That was his answer. It wasn't that we'd like to see it stay open or that there would be a plan. This petal just wants a more polite conversation. He doesn't want lower energy prices. The Australian people have worked this mob out.

Mr Shorten interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Leader of the Opposition will resume his seat. I don't like that language. I cautioned the Leader of the Opposition yesterday, on 'mob', and I just think it's better—

Mr Shorten interjecting—

I didn't ask the Leader of the Opposition to withdraw, from memory—

Mr Pyne interjecting—

I didn't. Can I also say that your reaction then didn't match my rhetoric yesterday.

Mr Hammond interjecting—

Mr Shorten interjecting—

Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Are you reflecting on the Speaker?

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You hear me? You want to go on? A little bit? The Treasurer for three seconds.

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

They've worked this Leader of the Opposition out, and they know he's shifty!

Chris Bowen (McMahon, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Treasurer. The Australian Financial Review reports that at a private function at Wombat Hollow the Treasurer said:

… the era of cheap, coal-fired power is coming to an end and anyone claiming it is the sole solution to the nation's energy dilemma is propagating a myth.

Does the Treasurer stand by his Wombat Hollow Declaration, or do his views change depending on whether he's carrying his pet rock?

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for his question. I do stand by those comments, because this is what I said: we need to sweat our existing coal-fired power generation assets for longer because it's those assets that are putting energy into the system at between $20 and $40 per megawatt hour. If you go and build a new coal-fired Healy plant, that is going to produce energy at about $80 per megawatt hour. That's why we need to sweat the existing coal-fired power assets for longer.

It's not the policy of those who sit opposite, though. It's not the policy of the coalophobes who sit opposite, who want to shut down coal-fired power stations in their own electorates. I reminded the House of this yesterday. We have the member for Grey up there, who kept a steel plant open. We have the member for Wannon down here, who kept an aluminium smelter open. And we have Labor members across the dial over there who want to shut down businesses with their higher taxes and they want to shut down coal-fired power stations, which will deliver baseload energy for Australian households and consumers.

So I welcome the question from the member for McMahon, who used to believe in lowering company taxes and who used to believe in policies that support growth. Now he's just got on board with the caravan of the most left-wing Labor leader we have seen in generations. And it's not just me who has said it. We heard that from Michael Costa as well, who accused him of exactly the same thing. And we have Richo, who has described the Labor policies on energy as 'an absolute farce'. They said, 'Oh Richo'—

Honourable Member:

An honourable member interjecting—

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You made him a life member the other day. He knows a lot more about the Labor Party than this mob of neosocialists ever will.