Slade Brockman (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Our part-time Minister for Climate Change and Energy continues to flit around Brazil and take on roles, when instead he should be worried about energy prices here at home. Meanwhile, the Australian energy commission has released a report in which unnamed executives are quoted as saying:

My feel is that bills will increase for at least the next decade, given the scale of capital being deployed in the industry.

They go on:

I think it's the calm before the storm, and I think the storm is coming around cost and competitiveness …

This energy grid that is being overseen by an ideological Labor government—renewables at any cost—is driving down Australia's competitiveness and driving up the costs on every family and every small business.

With Christmas just around the corner, I visited a food producer in Western Australia last week who talked about their daily energy bill increasing from just over $2,000 a day to $4½ thousand a day under this Labor government. Those increases are unsustainable and they feed directly through to the pressure that is placed upon Australian families in the lead-up to Christmas. That is why, once again this year, I'm doing a Foodbank donations drive—getting food donations to give to Foodbank to help those who are struggling this Christmas. Now, more than ever, I need your support to get those donations in. Please drop them in to my office at 1 Harper Terrace in South Perth. We need to give generously this year for all those out there who are suffering.