Matthew Canavan (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Minister for Resources and Northern Australia) Share this | Hansard source

I apologise if Senator Patrick misinterpreted the tone of my answer yesterday. It was not given with any sense of pride; it was given with a sense of shame. I think it's a shame for the country that prices in South Australia are some of the highest in the world. Action needs to be taken, and that is why, as I outlined yesterday, we've made sure that large energy companies no longer have access to challenge their regulatory decisions. That's helped bring $6 billion off power bills. That's why we've taken action on gas prices, as I outlined earlier. That's helped lower electricity prices as well. Indeed, the wholesale electricity price in the market, which covers South Australia, is down 18 per cent this year compared to last year, thanks at least in part to those actions. But, as I said yesterday, there's a lot more to do in South Australia. In particular, the report that Senator Patrick has been outlining outlines how the Energy Regulator has had to intervene over the last quarter to restrain renewable energy output to 10 per cent just to keep the lights on. That's why it's misguided to keep going for large Renewable Energy Target mandates which break the market and push up prices.