Zed Seselja (ACT, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Social Services and Multicultural Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

Indeed. Referring to Mr Shorten by his correct title, unfortunately, does not improve his policies at all. It does not improve the fact that the 50 per cent Renewable Energy Target, the 45 per cent emissions reduction target and the policies for forced closures of coal-fired power plants will take us back as a nation to a place where we don't want to be. They will take the South Australian blackout model and put that on a national stage.

We were asked about electricity prices. Let's look at what they were under the Labor Party when they were last in government, because we know that if they come back it's going to be worse. But this is what happened when they were in coalition with the Greens last time. We saw national average residential electricity prices increasing by an average of 10.3 per cent a year between 2009-10 and 2013-14. We saw the average price increase from 19.4c to 28.6c per kilowatt hour. Then, of course, due to the repeal of the carbon tax, we saw residential electricity prices fall between 2013-14 and 2015-16. So, if you look at the policy decisions that have been taken by the coalition government, things like repealing the carbon tax, they lead to a reduction in price. As we see, the policy decisions that were taken by the former Labor government, including a carbon tax, saw massive increases in electricity prices across the board.

The alternative couldn't be clearer. The coalition policy is about gas reservation policy, abolishes limited merits review, has Snowy Hydro 2.0, and seeks to work with power companies to keep coal-fired power stations open longer so that we can get the kind of base load that we need, that our industries need, that workers in this country need and that householders need in order to keep prices down—or we could go to the alternative model that has been put forward by Mr Bill Shorten, the Leader of the Opposition, and the Australian Labor Party nationally. Their policy is the South Australian Labor policy, which has seen statewide blackouts and sees South Australia having the highest energy prices in the nation. Mr Bill Shorten wants to take that policy nationally with a 50 per cent renewable energy target. There is no modelling as to what that might cost. Fancy an alternative Prime Minister going to the Australian people and saying, 'Look, we've got this you-beaut new policy; it's been tried in South Australia, it's led to the highest energy prices in the country and it's led to statewide blackouts and South Australia becoming the butt of national jokes as a result of its energy policies'! Mr Bill Shorten is saying, without telling us how much it's going to cost, that he wants to make that policy national. Well, we can guarantee one thing: it's going to cost a lot. It's going to push prices up. It's going to see more blackouts. It's going to see less energy security. This is the policy platform being put forward by the ALP, and we will certainly not be matching it. (Time expired)