Llew O'Brien (Wide Bay, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Climate Change and Energy. Minister, what date can Australian families expect their retail power bills to come down by $275?

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

I thank the honourable member for his question and congratulate him on hosting 1,549 cheaper home batteries that have been stored in the electorate of Wide Bay since 1 July. And I note that in May 2022 the wholesale price of energy in Queensland was $347 a megawatt hour and is today $58 a megawatt hour.

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

Order! The minister will just pause. The minister is about 40 seconds in, but I'll hear from the member for Wide Bay on a point of order.

Llew O'Brien (Wide Bay, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question was very, very defined. The people that can't afford to pay their electricity bills can't afford to buy these batteries. Is this guy the Duracell sales rep, or is he the energy minister?

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

The member for Wide Bay needs to state that it was on relevance. The minister's about 40 seconds in. He's entitled to a preamble, but I'm going to make sure he's being directly relevant. He wasn't asked about anything in the member's electorate except for a very specific question.

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

The honourable member asked me when retail prices are set, and they apply from 1 July, and they apply after the default market offer is released, under the normal course of events, when they're not hidden before an election by a minister. That is the normal course of events—that a draft default market offer will be released in March and a final in May. That can be changed by law, if the minister chooses to, as the member for Hume did. The average increase in Queensland that was hidden by the member for Hume was $165—11.3 per cent for households in Queensland that the member for Hume hid.

An opposition member interjecting—

Yes, the member is right. People pay retail prices, not wholesale prices. That is 100 per cent true. Wholesale prices are one of the inputs to retail prices. That's why the member for Hume set a target of $70 a megawatt hour for retail prices. When he left office, prices were more than $300 a megawatt hour. Wholesale prices feed into retail prices, and our energy market reforms ensure that they do so as efficiently as possible.