David Van (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr Acting Deputy President. Don't worry, you will get your turn. I was explaining to those opposite why we used to have the lowest power prices. This was not because of generation technologies; it was because of an abundant supply of fuel. I know those on my side understand supply-demand economics, but a quick lesson for those opposite. If you have more fuel than you can use, it drives down prices—simple. Labor and the Greens will chip in with, 'Well, we have all this sunshine; we have all this wind, more than we can use.' Of course they are right, to a point. When the sun sets and the wind stops, how does your supply look then? Pretty low, right? So what happens to prices, Senator Rice? They go up.

Senator Rice interjecting—

Have you heard of night-time?