Susan McDonald (Queensland, National Party, Shadow Minister for Resources) | Hansard source

The extraordinary thing this afternoon has been the complete disconnect between the Albanese Labor government and the realities of the world. We've heard crippling cost-of-living increases referred to as 'feeling the pinch' and 'doing it tough', when I know that people right across Australia are having to make tough decisions in their family budgets. They are fixing it firmly on a couple of things. The first is this Albanese Labor government's heedless, reckless rush to renewable energies at prices that are going to be borne by Australians. The Victorian government's decision not to put new gas connections in new homes from 2024 is another example of that complete lack of understanding of how the real world works. They have not reflected that per-unit electricity prices are 2.6 times higher than gas prices and that electricity is 5.84 times more emissions intensive than gas. These are two very compelling reasons why the Victorian government's decision is wrong, and this federal Labor Albanese government is complicit. We've heard, 'We don't support Victoria; that's not what we're doing,' yet, at a time when they're trying to drive down emissions, when they're sheeting the cost of emissions home, through the safeguard mechanism, to our big employers, our big businesses, in Australia, the Labor government in Victoria is actually making the problem worse.

But I want to turn to some of the comments made by Minister Gallagher when she specifically talked about the ACT government and their changes. I would ask that the Senate ask Minister Gallagher to return to this chamber to clarify her comments. She said that electricity prices are actually going down this year. I have referred to a couple of sources this afternoon—actewagl.com.au and the ACT Independent Competition and Regulatory Commission—which both very clearly outline that the cost of electricity in the ACT is going up by 4.15 per cent and ACT gas prices are increasing by 14 per cent this year. That is clearly not what the minister said. I ask that she return to the chamber to clarify her comments.

Question agreed to.