Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade) Share this | Hansard source

Energy insecurity means economic insecurity for every Australian. Affordable, reliable energy underpins our national economy and supports productivity. Manufacturing, industry, agriculture and small business sit next to emerging technologies like cyber and artificial intelligence in needing a dependable, accessible national electricity grid. However, under this Labor government, Australians are experiencing energy price increases which go to the core of driving energy insecurity.

Today's CPI data shows that, under Labor, electricity prices have risen by more than 32 per cent, exclusive of the rebates. Labor promised Australians savings of $275 on annual electricity bills, but we know that prices have soared up to $1,300 more than Labor promised. Our charities are at the coalface of meeting the energy insecurity challenges of Australian families. In its June cost-of-living index, Anglicare Australia revealed:

For the majority of the households we modelled, energy bills are simply unaffordable.

Minister Bowen and Labor have overseen back-to-back hits to household budgets. In June 2025, the national electricity market, the NEM, recorded a staggering month-on-month surge in the average spot price of 139 per cent, increasing from May's $96.28 per megawatt hour to June's average of $232 per megawatt hour. The 2025 year-to-date average now sits 10.6 per cent higher than the same period in 2024. Australian families and Australian businesses, large and small, are struggling under the energy insecurity being created by this Labor government. And under the Australian Energy Regulator's default market offer for 2025-26, which came into force this month on 1 July, residential electricity bills have increased by up to 9.7 per cent, and small-business electricity bills have increased by up to 8.5 per cent. Canstar predicts that this will increase the average power bill by approximately $228.

The Labor government just cannot be believed when it comes to the cost of their energy and emissions reduction policies. They went to the 2022 election with three promises: a $275 cut to bills by 2025, 82 per cent renewables by 2030 and a 43 per cent emissions reduction target. They have failed or are failing on all three. Australians deserve to have clear visibility of the electricity grid transition costs so they can engage in this critical debate about our nation's energy future. It is deeply concerning that the Centre for Public Integrity recently revealed the Albanese Labor government to be one of the least transparent in the modern era. This secrecy also extends and characterises the secrecy they apply to energy policies. Yesterday, the CSIRO handed down its final GenCost report but refused to reveal its modelling on Labor's renewables integration costs.

Minister Bowen is recklessly chasing renewables at any cost—a cost that is being borne by Australian families and Australian businesses, large and small, a cost that risks imperilling the competitiveness of our country, a cost that risks imperilling manufacturing businesses and a cost that risks imperilling heavy industry. Renewable infrastructure construction costs have soared, and it's time for the government to be honest about the cost of its emissions reduction plan. (Time expired)