Dan Tehan (Wannon, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. An energy sector CEO recently said of power price rises, 'I think it's the calm before the storm, and the storm is coming around cost and competitiveness.' Prime Minister, if the 40 per cent price rises that Australians have faced under the Albanese government are just the calm, what percentage power price rise is the storm going to bring?

Government Members:

Government members interjecting—

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

Order! Members on my right will cease interjecting. The member was given the courtesy to be heard in silence. The Prime Minister will be given that same courtesy.

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

I thank the member for his question about what the energy sector and the business community think about energy policy in this country. The Australian Energy Council CEO, Louisa Kinnear, has said: 'Keeping coal open for longer is likely to increase costs rather than decrease costs. It also means there are not the right market signals for new renewable investment to come in, because coal is still sitting in the system. We can't keep coal in the system forever. There is a large proportion that do need to exit.' The Australian Industry Group's Innes Willox, who I have quoted before, said that there was 'no interest' in going backwards on net zero. The Business Council of Australia CEO, Bran Black, said:

We need to make sure that we continue to guarantee Australia is a competitive place in which to do business. What that means in very practical terms is that we need to have a clear plan and pathway towards what net zero looks like.

…   …   …

… so that there is confidence to invest.

Andrew McKellar, the CEO of ACCI, said:

Business does need certainty … If we're going to get the investment in place for the future, we need to understand what is the policy …

To characterise the policy of those opposite at the moment, there seems to be a bit of a plan not to have a plan, unfortunately. Louisa Kinnear of the Australian Energy Council, when talking about the way forward, said: 'We are now in a trajectory for a high-renewable system supported by gas, battery storage and pumped hydro, and that is generally going to deliver the lowest cost outcome.' That's what the experts actually had to say.

When those opposite were in office, we had an energy system that was 50 years old. So 24 out of 28 coal-fired power stations announced their closures and nothing replaced them. They had four gigawatts leave the system and one gigawatt enter the system. As a result of a lack of supply, costs increased. What we are dealing with now is how you transition. Those opposite pretend that that's not the case. They pretend because they are too busy fighting the ongoing climate wars that have been in place, on their side, for decades now, holding Australia back.

Dan Tehan (Wannon, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Speaker, I have a point of order on relevance. The question was around power prices. He has not mentioned power prices once, and they are going through the roof.

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

The member for Wannon knows that he can raise a point of order but doesn't need to add extra when he is stating the point of order or any other theatrics. The Prime Minister has been talking about power prices and quoting directly on the comments he was asked about. He's being directly relevant.

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

I have spoken directly about power prices and what the lowest cost for a transition is. Those opposite have 23 plans and they're still fighting each other. One thing is very clear: love is not what will stop them tearing each other apart.