Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Education and Training) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Canavan for his question. Indeed, I am pleased to tell Senator Canavan—because this applies to regional Queensland, which he represents so passionately, just as it does to the whole of Australia—that the repeal of the carbon tax has delivered the largest reduction in electricity prices on record, meaning good news for the cost of living for millions of Australian families and good news for Australian businesses of all sizes, the competitiveness of Australian businesses, the competitiveness of the Australian economy and, ultimately, the job prospects for growth around the Australian economy.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission have confirmed in their final carbon-tax-monitoring report that electricity prices are up to 12 per cent lower than they would have been with the carbon tax—12 per cent lower for Australian households and 12 per cent lower for Australian businesses across every state and territory. There is up to 12 per cent reduction in those prices, which confirms the Australian Treasury estimate that on average the carbon tax removal has saved Australian households $550.

Over the course of Labor's two years of the carbon tax, Australian households and businesses were slugged $15.4 billion in carbon tax fees. That was $15.4 billion less that households had to spend, $15.4 billion less that Australian businesses and industries had to invest in growing their businesses and in being competitive on the world stage. Ultimately we need to understand that the carbon tax removal is not just a saving to households but a saving to business. It makes our economy more competitive. It ties in with the rest of this government's job creation agenda by ensuring that our export and trading industries can best compete on the world stage by having the lowest-cost platform to do business.