Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Before becoming Prime Minister you repeated your promise to cut electricity bills by $275 on no fewer than 15 occasions. After becoming Prime Minister you haven't mentioned it once. Prime Minister, you said, 'It's the job of the Prime Minister to deal with the challenges that Australia faces and not to constantly just blame someone else.' So will you be honest with the Australian people and tell them whether they will be getting the $275 cut that you promised them?

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today we've come another step closer to delivering our mandate, our mandate that we received at the election, our mandate that was fully modelled by RepuTex—and that we stand by. Our mandate will see a 43 per cent reduction in emissions by 2030. While we're doing it, we'll create 604,000 new jobs, five out of every six of them in regional Australia. Our mandate will see the renewable sector, as part of the National Energy Market, grow to 82 per cent by 2030—all part of our plan to go to net zero by 2050. And I'm pleased that we have had statements today across this parliament from people who are prepared to not get everything that they want but are prepared to acknowledge the fact that we need to end the climate wars.

With those opposite it was very different, because prior to the 2019 election the then shadow minister said there would be a 25 per cent reduction in the average NEM wholesale spot price to less than $70 per megawatt hour by the end of 2021. That was what was said at that time by the minister, now the shadow Treasurer. In May 2019, the average wholesale price was $93—in 2019.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Manager of Opposition Business, a point of order?

Paul Fletcher (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Government Services and the Digital Economy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I take a point of order on relevance. The question's very specific: will the Australian people be getting the $275 cut you promised them?

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On the point of order, the Leader of the House?

Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, we keep being told that the question's very specific, and then a corner of the question is all that is read out. Under previous Speakers there's consistently been a principle that, where a question has various rhetorical comments in it, that widens the ambit of the answer.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question was very broad, and the Prime Minister is in order.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you very much. I can see why they don't want to hear this. They promised it would be $70; it was $93. And guess what it was: $341—missed by this much! It was missed by just $271.25! They promised $70 and delivered $341. And now, in their opposition to the cheapest form of energy—renewables—they've come up with the most expensive as the solution: nuclear power. Putting the member for Fairfax in charge of a review on nuclear power bears an uncanny resemblance to Mr Burns putting Homer Simpson in charge of nuclear power safety in Springfield! No-one loves a reactor like a reactionary, so it's no wonder they're so obsessed by nukes over there.

The truth is, renewables are the cheapest. We will deliver increased renewables into the system. (Time expired)

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Barker will cease interjecting.