Kara Cook (Bonner, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Climate Change and Energy. How is the Albanese Labor government helping households strengthen the grid, and why can't we afford to go back to policies of the past?

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

I thank my honourable friend for the question. Since 1 July, 256,630 Australian households have put in a cheaper home battery, and 1,941 of them have been in the electorate of Bonner. Only one of them's been visited by the Prime Minister and I and the member for Bonner, but 1,941 have put in a cheaper home battery, and that is 6.4 gigawatt hours. Now, interestingly, in terms of capacity, it took Australia 10 years to put in the first 6.4 gigawatt hours of home batteries and eight months to put in the second 6.4 gigawatt hours. That is a doubling of the capacity of home batteries under this government, and that is additional to the 9.4 gigawatt hours of large-scale energy that has been added since we came to office.

The honourable member for Bonner asked me why we should avoid going back to the policies of the past. It's a very well crafted question, because the plural is important—because we had 22 failed energy policies in the decade of those opposite. We saw 24 out of 28 coal-fired power stations announce their closure, with no plan to replace them, and all this led to four gigawatts leaving the grid and only one gigawatt coming on. And that led—

Hon. Members:

Honourable members interjecting—

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

They want to talk about prices. Let's talk about prices. Let's talk about the member for Hume changing the law to hide a 20 per cent price rise before the last election. I'll table the regulation, Mr Speaker. The now Leader of the Opposition hid a 20 per cent energy price rise. But just as concerning as the member for Hume's actions—

Honourable members interjecting—

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

Order! The minister's got to pause for a moment. There's just far too much noise from both sides of the chamber. So the minister can just tone it down, and members on my left can please stop interjecting. We'll get through this. We shall conclude the question and answer.

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

The member for Hume changed the law to hide a 20 per cent price rise before the 2022 election. Just as concerning is the shifting alibi. First, he denied doing it. On 26 October he was asked about the regulation I just tabled, and he said, 'No, I didn't.' Then he later claimed it was the Australian Energy Regulator. On 26 October he said, 'The AER puts it out, not me. I didn't see it.' 'I didn't see it,' he said. Then, on 1 November, the story changed, and the member for Hume was asked, 'Does that mean you actually did sign a regulation of which the effect was to delay the release of pricing information?' And he finally fessed up.

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

The minister is referring to the member for Hume when he was the member for Hume. We're not going to get into this continual—he wasn't the Leader of the Opposition at the time. I'm listening carefully to what he's saying. He's referring to a previous capacity.

Kevin Hogan (Page, National Party, Deputy Manager of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Standing order 64 is very important, Speaker.

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

Yes. Trust me, I'm well aware of that standing order and I'm enforcing it continuously. But let's just have a bit of common sense. If someone's referring to someone in a previous capacity, of course they can be referred to in that capacity. We'll deal with it in a commonsense way. The minister has 27 seconds to conclude his answer.

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

The now Leader of the Opposition fessed up and said, 'I did. It was recommended to me by the industry department and by the regulator as what they wanted. It was my department what made me do it, gov!' was his defence. This goes to the character of the now Leader of the Opposition. This goes to his character and his conduct. If the Leader of the Opposition is not prepared to trust the Australian people with information, whether it be an election review or an electricity price rise, he is not fit to be prime minister of this country.

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

After 22 questions—none of them from those opposite on the economy or the cost of living—I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.