Paul Scarr (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

The caravan moves on. I saw absolutely no mention of electricity price savings for the Australian consumer when the Governor-General attended in this place, last week, for the opening of this parliament and, effectively, laid down the government's agenda, absolutely no reference to that $275 electricity price saving. And I will be happy, Senator Urquhart, to come back to that $275 supposed saving that those opposite are going to deliver to Australian electricity users every week this parliament sits, between now and the next federal election, because I do not believe that you will deliver that cost saving in this inflationary environment. I don't believe you're going to deliver that cost saving at all.

It will be fascinating to see how the construction costs, which are going to blow out as a result of your policy with abolishing the ABCC—it's going to be very interesting to see how those additional construction costs for every single transmission tower that is built in this country will cost more, approximately 30 per cent more, as a result of your abolition of the ABCC. That's what's going to happen to electricity costs. That's what's going to happen, because those construction costs feed into every single cost across the whole of the Australian economy, including electricity prices, because you've got to get the electricity from point A to point B. When you construct your solar panel farm, your windfarm—whatever it is, in terms of renewables—you've got to construct the transmission lines, and that's where the construction costs are extraordinarily relevant.

I'll be happy to be corrected, at the time, but I do not believe that those opposite will deliver that $275 saving in terms of electricity costs. We will wait and see. Those, including those in the gallery, who will be receiving their electricity bills between now and the next election, they can be the judge. They should ask themselves, before the next election, whether or not their electricity prices have decreased by $275. We'll see what happens.

Those electricity costs are affecting every single part of Australian society—not just the retail consumer but also the business consumer—and it also includes small businesses where I have my patch in Queensland. I was speaking to a small business just this week about cost pressures on their small business. Nick runs a cafe, and he has been hit with the cost increases in terms of electricity, in terms of wages and also in terms of rent. Small business rent increases are going to go up as a direct result of the inflationary impact, and are provided for under his lease.

That's what we are facing in this country. We are facing increased costs across the board and, in that environment, it is simply not credible, given the government's own plans, that electricity prices will fall by $275. In fact, all the evidence, I believe, will be to the contrary, especially when we consider the costs of transmission, actually providing stability to the electricity grid and getting the renewable energy sources fed into the grid. On that $275 guarantee: Senator Urquhart was keen for me to mention it, and I'm happy to. I suggest that promise will haunt those sitting opposite between this day and up to the next federal election.