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

During question time, I asked the government to explain why electricity prices have gone up by, now, 40 per cent under their watch, despite coming to power promising to lower them. It was pretty clear there was no answer from the government to explain this dichotomy that somehow the government could promise for years that, by investing in solar and wind power, they'd reduce power prices. Before the 2022 election, infamously, the Prime Minister said almost 100 times that he would lower the power bills of Australians by $275. That has not come to fruition.

Everybody that gets a power bill understands that, over the past three-and-a-bit years, they've continued to go up and up. This week we've had additional data confirming that. Yesterday the Australian Bureau of Statistics released their consumer price index data, which is effectively the measure of inflation on a monthly basis, and that showed that, despite the government's repeated claims in recent years—less repeated these days—electricity prices went up another 13 per cent over the past year. In just three years of this government, the increase is now at 39 per cent, rounding up to 40 per cent. It's quite an achievement to have power prices go up by 40 per cent in just three years. It's a sad indictment. It's a terrible tragedy for many families that are doing it tough and for businesses that cannot afford these crushing, skyrocketing increases in energy prices.

It's still quite an achievement to have such a surge in power prices over just a three-year period—fast outpacing inflation and fast outpacing any explanation or excuse the government previously had about the Ukraine war. For the first couple of years when power prices were going up, the government would come in here and constantly tell us: 'It's not our fault that your power bills have gone up. It's Vladimir Putin's fault. It's because he has invaded Ukraine, and gas and coal prices have gone up. That's why your power bills are high.' Well, gas and coal prices are back down to levels they were at well before the Ukraine war, yet your power bills have stayed high. What is the explanation for that? And that's the direct question I asked.

They say and promise that renewable energy is the cheapest form of power—I constantly hear that. It's a constant refrain, almost a mantra, from the government to say that renewable energy is the cheapest form of power. We just heard in this debate that the government has installed massive amounts of renewable energy. I think I heard 18 gigawatts—anyway, a lot of renewable energy, a lot of solar and wind, has been installed by this government. So, if solar and wind power are cheaper than the coal and gas they're replacing, wouldn't that lower power prices? You'd think so. I mean, I don't know. I am an economist, but I don't think you need to be an economist to understand that. If they're saying this thing is cheaper than that thing, and they're going to do more of this thing, that should lower prices. Why haven't they come down? I think the Australian people deserve an explanation for why their government promised them this massive bounty from their election. The government haven't delivered on those promises.

The Australian people deserve an explanation for why things have gone so wrong. This is not just an academic exercise. This is a big contributor to why Australian families have been suffering. They've suffered the biggest drop in their standard of living in the developed world. A big reason for that is the surging power bills, which don't just affect what you get every quarter from your power company; they also affect pretty much the cost of everything—in the supermarket, at the petrol pump. Pretty much everything is affected by the cost of energy. Australian businesses use four times the amount of power that households use. It is now affecting our manufacturing sector. There are 17,000 jobs in North Queensland at risk if our copper industry falls over, which is on the brink. Our aluminium industry is asking for significant assistance. Our steel industry has already got a multibillion-dollar bailout, as have the lead and zinc industries as well. We can't keep going on like this. We need a solution. Today I asked the government, 'What is your plan now to lower power prices?' and there was nothing. There was no plan. The government has waved the white flag on lower energy prices for the Australian people. I don't think we should do that. We've got the world's best energy resources in the world. We should use them. We should not give up.

Question agreed to.