Andrew Willcox (Dawson, Liberal National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Manufacturing and Sovereign Capability) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last week, I stood in a field of sugarcane and saw a man pouring his heart and sweat into the land. Despite doing everything right, cane farmer Peter Doyle is shackled by soaring electricity bills that punish hard work and ambition. He has invested heavily in solar and he chases every tariff and every saving available, yet his power bills keep rising. This is why Australians deserve a cheaper, better and fairer energy system. Imagine every farmer across Australia in the same position. Producers should be focused on feeding the nation and instead are being forced to manage their energy use like another full-time job. Families feel the pain at the checkout because, when a farmer's costs increase, the whole country pays for it. When electricity is unaffordable, everything is unaffordable. Peter should be concentrating on producing the best possible crop, but instead he navigates wind, tariffs and irrigation schedules just to avoid being punished for turning on the pump. That is not fair, and it is not sustainable.

Behind Labor's flawed energy policies are thousands of farmers like Peter doing everything right and still falling behind. We owe them an energy system that sparks opportunity, not one that leaves them powerless. The coalition has a cheaper, better and fairer energy policy, and I say bring it on for Australia's sake—the sooner the better.