Barnaby Joyce (Queensland, National Party, Leader of The Nationals in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Prime Minister, Senator Conroy—Eddie's boy. I refer the minister to comments made by the Prime Minister on ABC Sydney on 9 August last year. In that interview the Prime Minister said in reference to the impact of the carbon tax that what they will certainly see is a 10 per cent rise in power price bills. We have always said it would be a 10 per cent rise. I also refer the minister to a survey by the Australian Industry Group of 485 businesses, which showed that they report an average 14.5 per cent increase in their power bills due to the carbon tax. Why is the carbon tax imposing a bigger impost on Australian business than what the Prime Minister promised?

Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am very pleased to receive this question because, at its core, it is a question about the strength of the Australian economy. It is an allegation from Senator Joyce that this economy has been hit hard by the carbon tax. What we need to do is take a stocktake. Let's take a stocktake of the Australian economy. Our economy is 11 per cent larger than since Labor came to office. That is very impressive growth. We have seen growth to the September quarter at 3.1 per cent compared to a 10-year average of three per cent. We have unemployment rates—as again demonstrated today—at 5.4 per cent, well below the OECD average of eight per cent. We have an exceptional job creation record. We have over 840,000 jobs created.

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order!

Barnaby Joyce (Queensland, National Party, Leader of The Nationals in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I rise on a point of order, obviously on relevance. This question is about power prices and why we were promised a 10 per cent increase yet we had a 14.5 per cent increase. Could the minister address the question without the other ramble?

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

At this stage, I believe the minister is answering the question.

Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question from Senator Joyce is exactly about the economy. It is exactly about the impact of the carbon tax on the economy. As I was saying, despite 27 million jobs lost worldwide during the global financial crisis, we created around 840,000 jobs. Our inflation rate is at 2.5 per cent, below the 10 year average of 2.8 per cent. So let's go again to the fraudulent claims being made by some around the carbon tax. The government has said every day since the introduction—

Barnaby Joyce (Queensland, National Party, Leader of The Nationals in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I raise a point of order on relevance. The question was about power prices; he is not addressing power prices. People of western Sydney want to know why they are paying more for power. In his last eight seconds, can he tell the people of western Sydney and Melbourne why they are paying more for their power than they should be?

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There is no point of order.

Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As I was in the process of pointing out, Treasury modelling found that the carbon price would increase household electricity prices by 10 per cent—$3.30 on average a week. (Time expired)

Barnaby Joyce (Queensland, National Party, Leader of The Nationals in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. I refer the minister to comments made by the Prime Minister in July last year that if the dairy industry faces any costs from the carbon tax they would be able to 'pass any additional cost through to the consumer.' The same AIG survey of 485 businesses found that 90 per cent of the food manufacturers had higher costs due to the carbon tax but only 11 per cent were able to pass these costs through. Why has the Prime Minister failed Australian farming communities and the Australian people?

Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As I was explaining in my previous answer, the Treasury modelling found that the carbon price would increase household electricity prices by 10 per cent or $3.30 a week on average. Electricity regulator determinations have confirmed this. An independent agency has confirmed it. In some cases, the carbon impact has been less than Treasury's estimate. Even in South Australia—I am sure some of my colleagues will be able to point out—it has been substantially less and reductions are possible. What we have here is a typical scare campaign based on no facts. Senator Joyce is well aware that state governments and state electricity agencies have been gold plating their infrastructure. State Liberal governments across the country are responsible for doing something about it. (Time expired)

Barnaby Joyce (Queensland, National Party, Leader of The Nationals in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a further supplementary question. If Australian businesses cannot trust the government to get the impact of the carbon tax right and if this chamber cannot get a direct answer from questions directly asked of the minister, how can Australian families believe any of the promises made by this government?

Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

(—) (): Unfortunately, I know facts are not Senator Joyce's strong point, but the facts show and the ABS—they must be part of the global conspiracy to not tell the truth to Senator Joyce—has confirmed the CPI figures. To meet this impact the government provided $10—that is nearly $7 on top of the $3. But the main driver of electricity prices in recent years has been the costs of electricity networks, most of which are owned by state governments. That is what the facts are. You can wave around electricity bills—and unfortunately that lead to a tragic result for Mr Abbott in the other place. Feel free to try the same stunt. You have no policies whatsoever and you are continuing a fraudulent scare campaign. (Time expired)