Chris Ketter (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Let me commence my contribution by saying that Australians want lower electricity prices. That is absolutely clear. I said yesterday in this place that that is something that is absolutely necessary for us to come the grips with. What is also clear is that the policy uncertainty, at least over the past five years—if you look at media reports, some attribute the policy uncertainty over the past 10 years—is being driven by one man: former Prime Minister Tony Abbott. He and his cohort of climate sceptics are seeking to sabotage the national interest. But the tragedy in this situation, of course, is that we have a Prime Minister who lacks the authority to deal with this group within his government.

As I rise to take note of answers, I want to start by noting that bipartisanship is the answer to the problem of rising electricity prices. The business community needs bipartisanship in order to invest for the long term. We have seen some small glimmers of bipartisanship this week in our joint response to the deplorable contribution by Senator Anning. I want to remind the voters of Queensland that, regardless of his new party allegiance, Senator Anning was put in this place because of Senator Hanson's One Nation party. So we can, from time to time, work together. If we have that bipartisanship on a regular basis we can deal with energy prices.

Households are struggling whilst the government refuses to negotiate with the Labor opposition on this matter. We are seeing households struggle, particularly in Victoria. I note the St Vincent de Paul Society has put out a report this week in relation to Victorian households. We see that Victorian households are on the worst electricity deals in the market, paying $1,000 or more each year for the same amount of power as those on the best offers. This is where we see this lack of bipartisanship affecting people who are the most vulnerable.

It is painfully clear this week that the Liberal-National government are totally, hopelessly and irreconcilably divided on this issue. You only need to look at some of the media that has been around for the last couple of days. Senator McAllister has dealt with that.

I want to return to this point that members of this government refuse to accept the science. I think there has been a significant announcement this week from the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering. They said that building more coal-fired power stations would be an environmental and economic mistake. They have made a statement amid media speculation the government would use the ACCC's recent report to justify underwriting baseload power investments based on coal. The ATSE president, Professor Bradlow, said the academy had long advocated for technology-neutral policies that could address the energy trilemma. He went on to say that new coal-fired power stations will not reduce the cost of electricity and will not aid efforts to reduce emissions. Let's listen to the experts. Let's listen to the scientists in this area and let's knuckle down and deal with the issue of coming up with some areas of agreement. On our side, we've been prepared to extend the hand of bipartisanship to negotiate something, but on the other side we have a government which is hopelessly crippled by the division within it.

It is time for this government to get out of the way so that we can deliver certainty for energy prices. We know that this policy uncertainty is driving up prices. We heard this from the Treasury officials at estimates. The LNP has done nothing to encourage business investment in renewables. That is what is needed. Their inaction has paralysed the industry. It was Labor that set up the Clean Energy Finance Corporation to encourage investment in renewables. We have a strong record on protecting the environment and addressing climate change. We have ambition and drive. We need this government to get out of the way.