Carina Garland (Chisholm, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Climate Change and Energy. What cost-of-living relief, including to assist with energy bills, is the Albanese Labor government delivering? How is this different from other approaches?

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

I thank the honourable member for her question. I'm very pleased to tell her that, today, 2.7 million households right across Victoria will begin receiving the $300 energy bill relief, as every household across Australia will do. Also, as well as the tax cuts being delivered, today is the day that the default market offer and the Victorian market offer come into effect. When we combine the government's rebates and the Victorian market offer, that leads, on average, to a 23 per cent reduction in energy bills for Victorian households today—a 23 per cent reduction!

Now, of course, the default market offer that applies from today applies on 1 July every year, so today is the second anniversary of the 18 per cent increase that the member for Hume hid from the Australian people by changing the law before the last election. It's the second anniversary of that, which is a policy we reject.

Talking of policies we reject, we've had the little thought bubble of expensive nuclear energy from those opposite. All we've seen is the seven sites released—no costings, no modelling. But, to be fair—I always try to give credit where it's due—we saw a little—

Ted O'Brien (Fairfax, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Climate Change and Energy) | Link to this | Hansard source

Where's your modelling?

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

a little more policy from the Leader of the Opposition and the member for Fairfax—

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

No, the Minister for Climate Change and Energy will just pause.

Order! Members on my right. The member for Macnamara will cease interjecting—

The Deputy Leader of the Opposition! I'm trying to deal with order in the House—if she could assist me, I'd appreciate it. The member for Fairfax does not need to yell during this answer or any answer. I'm going to ask the member for Fairfax, for the remainder of question time, not to interject anymore. He's had a good go. If he interjects one more time he'll leave the chamber. The Minister for Climate Change and Energy has the call.

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

I was just saying that, to be fair to the member for Fairfax, he put out a little more policy on the weekend. We already knew that they would have a government owned instrumentality and that they were going to call it the 'independent nuclear authority'. But he also released on the weekend details that there's going to be a second agency, a government business enterprise, to own these nuclear power plants. How would you convince the Australian people that introducing the most expensive form of energy was going to lead to lower bills? He announced the name. It's going to be called 'affordable energy Australia', in keeping with the previous government's approach. It had the National Energy Guarantee, which didn't guarantee anything. It had the Climate Solutions Fund, which didn't fund any solutions. And they had the Underwriting New Generation Investment program, which didn't deliver a dollar or an electron or anything.

The fact of the matter is that no amount of spin, no amount of Utopia-style naming an agency 'affordable energy', when you're going to introduce the most expensive form of energy will lead to lower bills. We know that experts differ on whether they will increase bills by $200 or $1,000. That's what the experts say: between $200 and $1,000 worth of increases from their expensive nuclear energy policy. This sort of spin won't reduce energy prices. What reduces energy prices is real relief today, and that's what the Albanese government is delivering. What reduces energy prices are concrete, detailed plans like what we saw from AEMO last week. That's what reduces energy prices, not expensive reactors in 20 years time, not spin and not fake government organisations but real energy bill relief. (Time expired)