Matthew Canavan (Queensland, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

The sad reality is the Labor Party are in no position to lecture anyone about what is best for energy policy in this country, what is best to help people with the cost of living, because they've had their chance. The Australian people gave them their faith and trust three years ago, and that faith and trust included the promise to cut energy bills for all Australians. The Labor Party put a number on it; they said they'd cut energy costs by $275 per bill. They said it would be easier, that they would help to lower the cost of living. They've had a relatively compliant Senate; they've been able to get the vast majority of their legislation through. They say they got all this cost-of-living stuff through. Well, the question has to be asked: if they got it all through—they say we opposed some of it, but, regardless, they got it through—why is it that, after all their actions, Australia has had the largest drop in standard of living in the developed world? No other place in the developed world has been smashed like Australia has in the past three years, as we've gotten out of COVID. It's only this country that has suffered that. The people responsible obviously have to be those people in power. They are simply in no position to criticise other people's energy policies. They lost that authority because of their record.

You can tell right now that they're barely even defending that record. In question time, we asked about the Labor Party's record on power prices, on energy policy and on the cost of living, as you would as the opposition. Immediately, the ministers would pivot to criticise the polices and plans of the opposition. There was no attempt at all to defend the record of their own policies and what they've done for Australians. It shows the shallow platform upon which the Labor Party are asking the Australian people, against all of the evidence, to give them their faith and trust again.

We saw evidence of this just a couple of weeks ago. The Prime Minister, just after Australia Day, was quoted as saying that his party has done 'all we can to encourage a rate cut'. As I say, we've had the highest inflation rate in the developed world. We've had the biggest drop in the standard of living in the developed world, and the Labor Prime Minister says he's done all he can. He's washed his hands. 'Good luck, Australians. You're on your own now.' We'll see how we go with the Reserve Bank in a couple of weeks time. This Prime Minister is out of ideas and out of a plan. It raises the question why the Prime Minister is standing for re-election. Why is he asking to have another go, if he's already done all he can and he has no other plans in the locker to develop?

I think Australians deserve better, because we have such a great country. We have so many natural resources. We just have to unlock them. Now, I'd like to unlock all of them. I've been very transparent and upfront about that. And lots of my friends and colleagues on the other side like to watch and listen to everything I have to say. I just wish they acted upon it. But we just have to open up our resources. At the election, there'll be one side—the side of failure, the side that have failed on their promises in the last few years—who are saying, 'We're only going to use our solar and wind resources.' They've stopped talking about hydrogen. They used to talk about hydrogen, too, but that's been a complete and utter failure, and they're too embarrassed to even mention it now. So they're only going to use solar and wind. That's it. They're restricted to that.

We'll have a plan. We're saying that we need to use, yes, solar and wind; we need to use our gas; we need to continue our coal-fired power stations, and we need to use our uranium reserves, too, because we've locked those up. Twenty or 30 years ago it didn't matter that much, because we had so many coal-fired power stations running, but right now we need to open up more resources. It is a very simple equation. If you want to have lower energy prices, you need to have more supply of energy. And the more energy we open up—the more nuclear, the more coal, the more gas, the more solar and wind; I've got nothing against solar and wind, in the right places, as long as it doesn't destroy the environment—the more of it we build, the lower our power prices will be, the more chance we'll have to save what is left of our manufacturing industry and the lower the cost of living will be for all Australians, and we we'll finally have some relief.

Right now we have to make decisions that are going to put our country in a strong position to navigate the uncertain times that are occurring around the world. Unless we reform and change course, we're going to be a weaker and poorer nation, which is the trajectory we've been on under this government.

Question agreed to.