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

Senator Dean Smith has submitted a proposal, under standing order 75, as shown at item 12 of today's Order of Business:

The Australian Energy Council's November report states that 'AEC members have become increasingly concerned about the rising pressures on affordability and feel there needs to be a more honest and transparent public narrative about the cost of the transition'.

Is consideration of the proposal supported?

More than the number of senators required by the standing orders having risen in their places—

With the concurrence of the Senate, the clerks will set the clock in line with the informal arrangements made by the whips.

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

Australians deserve honesty and transparency from their government about the true cost of its reckless energy plan, and they are not getting it. The latest red flag is in the Australian Energy Council's report just released on 17 November, which reveals how concerned the energy sector is with Labor's faltering energy transition. The reports says:

AEC members have become increasingly concerned about the rising pressures on affordability and feel there needs to be a more honest and transparent public narrative about the cost of the transition.

Instead of having an honest dialogue with Australians, now part-time energy minister Chris Bowen is keeping them in the dark while driving up their power bills and risking network security and reliability. It's time for Labor to stop the insults and spin and answer one simple question: when will power prices come down under Labor like they promised?

The energy sector attitudes revealed in the Australian Energy Council report are damning. The report notes:

Most CEOs expect energy prices to rise in the coming years …

This is due to sustained upward pressure. These CEOs are sounding the alarm on Minister Bowen's misguided plan, with one stating:

Network cost is only going to go up and go up by increasing levels. And the Australian consumer is not even really wise to that yet because they haven't seen the worst of it.

Just think about that. Energy sector leaders themselves are saying that network costs are going up, going up and going up, and who are the last people in the country to know about that? It's energy consumers—families and businesses. Australian households, businesses and industry deserve a policy that provides affordable energy and seeks to deliver responsible emissions reductions. Labor has failed on both measures while hiding the true cost of its policy from the public. Families are struggling to make ends meet, small businesses are being forced to close their doors, regional Australians are paying the price for poor planning and industry is being pushed offshore.

For Australian households, power bills are up by almost 40 per cent. Where Labor promised a $275 cut to power bills, Australians today are paying around $1,300 more. More than 200,000 families—think about that—across Australia are now on financial hardship plans with their electricity providers. That's an increase of 50 per cent since mid-2022. The Australian Energy Regulator has reported that both the number of customers in debt and the size of the average debt have increased in the last 12 months. Energy leaders have raised concerns over the unintended consequences of leaving vulnerable people behind. One energy leader said:

So bottom line is, we're going to make a large segment of the population more vulnerable again with electricity.

For small business, the story's the same. For small businesses, electricity bills have increased by as much as 80 per cent. COSBOA, the peak industry association for small businesses, reports that one in three small businesses are struggling to pay their electricity and gas bills. It's no surprise that, under the Albanese government, we have witnessed the insolvency of almost 40,000 businesses. Under Labor, Australian industry is being hollowed out. In fact, 1,911 manufacturers have closed their doors since the Albanese government came to power. As one contributor to the AEC report observed:

Australian industry will not survive without access to affordable energy.

For these Australians, prices are soaring, while Australia's emissions are flatlining. Despite $75 billion in extra climate spending—the equivalent of an extra $7,000 per household—national emissions are virtually unchanged under Labor. Recent figures show that, for all this economic pain, emissions have barely moved, falling just 0.7 per cent. Think about that—emissions have fallen just 0.7 per cent under Labor.

This is a reckless government setting targets it cannot meet at a cost Australians can't afford. The coalition's plan is to deliver affordable power and responsible emissions reductions. It's a practical pathway to affordable power and lower emissions. It's not Labor's recipe of soaring prices and targets that cannot be met.

Richard Dowling (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Smith does raise concerns about affordability and transparency in the transition—and fair enough. We should be discussing these things. Let's begin with some honesty and some facts about the transition. Under those opposite, Australia was transitioning to energy poverty. As has been recorded lately and as stated by the Prime Minister, we saw 24 of Australia's 28 coal-fired power plants close while the coalition was in government. That's 24 of 28, not because of Labor and not because of renewables but because ageing plants failed and those opposite had no plan to replace them.

Let's turn to more facts and evidence. The International Energy Agency has reported that countries moving faster to net zero will see lower household bills over time. OECD comparisons show Australian electricity bills sit in the middle of the pack once you adjust for income. Last week we learned that the Climate Council of Australia stated that, without renewables, generation costs will be up to 50 per cent higher than they are today. Transparency, evidence, honesty and a discussion about affordability—that's what this debate is about, but they're inconvenient facts for some. The Climate Council's analysis showed that wholesale renewable power has averaged $72 a megawatt hour, compared to $129 a megawatt hour from coal and gas—almost twice the price. It doesn't matter who you speak to. Australia's top energy bodies—the AER, AEMO, AEMC and CSIRO—all agree that renewables backed by storage are the cheapest and most reliable form of new electricity. I'm talking about new electricity because we need to continue to build supply of generation as those ageing coal fleets retire as they did—24 of 28—under the coalition. That is the hard data. The AEMC warns that delaying renewable energy generation and transmission will put upward pressure on residential costs.

Wholesale prices are already falling. They're down by a third in the last quarter. We want those reductions flowing into retail bills as soon as possible. That is why the Albanese government is delivering a responsible energy plan that creates jobs, provides business certainty and lowers emissions. It's also why we've acted three times to deliver energy bill relief, cap gas prices and invest in cheaper renewables, with every step opposed by those opposite. Our plan is clear: renewables, backed by gas, batteries and hydro, with targets that lower emissions and create jobs.

The transition is accelerating. Renewables supplied half of the national electricity market just last month. Last year alone, five gigawatts of new solar, wind, battery and gas capacity entered the grid. That's the largest amount of new capacity in the grid since 1998. We've approved 111 renewable and related projects, which is enough to power 13 million homes. One in three households now have rooftop solar, with more than four million installations across the country. Since July, Australians have installed 120,000 household batteries, lifting national storage capacity by 50 per cent. EV sales have hit 13 per cent of all new sales this year. And we're making solar fairer with three hours of free daytime power for customers who can shift their energy use. Compare that to those opposite, with a decade in power, 24 coal stations closed and no replacement, no transition plan and no bill relief. While Labor has delivered support for households and small business, the coalition opposed every single one of them. Every bill spike, every breakdown and every moment of grid instability is part of their legacy. Doing nothing now—their current plan—has consequences.

The Clean Energy Council found households could pay $449 more by 2030 if the renewable build-out slows and over $600 more if a major coal generator fails unexpectedly. More than 90 per cent of coal plants will retire over the next decade. The only question left is whether Australia replaces them with the cheapest option or the most expensive option. Tasmania knows where the opportunity lies—with our hydro assets, storage and critical minerals, which means jobs, security and investment for Australia and for our regions.

Steph Hodgins-May (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Australian Energy Council's latest report says its members want a more honest and transparent narrative about the cost of the transition. Well, let's be honest and transparent. The Energy Council doesn't work for consumers; it works for the companies who profit when the transition slows down. And of course these companies are concerned about the speed of the transition, because every year we delay is another year that they can squeeze profits out of coal and gas. But slowing down the transition doesn't make power cheaper. It destroys our economy. It trashes our planet and locks households into expensive gas in a world that is rapidly moving on. Renewable energy is the future. Get with the program or get out of the way.

Let me bust some myths. Myth—renewables are expensive. Fact—every credible body, such as the CSIRO, AEMO and the Climate Council, says that wind and solar are now the cheapest form of new electricity generation in Australia by a mile. Wind and solar cost a fraction of new coal and gas. The Clean Energy Council's latest analysis shows that renewables are the cheapest path to lower bills, full stop. Myth—dependence on gas keeps energy prices stable. Fact—gas is a major driver of high bills. When global prices jump, Australian households feel it. Unlike gas, renewables don't link our domestic market to volatile international prices. Since Australia began exporting LNG, domestic gas prices have tripled, and power prices have doubled. Myth—the grid can't handle renewables. Fact—the grid can't handle ageing coal plants falling over. Renewables are predictable. The failures of ageing coal and gas are not. AEMO has been crystal clear that the fastest way to a reliable grid is more wind, more solar and more storage.

While we're busting some myths, let's talk about the coalition. Their abandonment of net zero is frankly embarrassing, and it is a betrayal of everyday Australians, who want cheaper bills and a clean energy future. They are trying to outdo Labor in defending fossil fuel corporations and locking us into decades of higher energy costs. Farmers don't want that. Households don't want that. Industry doesn't want that. Australians do not want that. You want transparency and truth. Well, here it is. Renewables are the cheapest, cleanest and most reliable path forward. The only thing standing in the way of that clean energy transition is a political class that is just too timid, too afraid to embrace that renewable energy transition, and an industry hoping like hell that we don't.

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

The government's continuing excuses for why their net zero agenda is not delivering lower power prices for the Australian people are wearing thin. They're wearing thin with the Australian people because constantly they get lectured that renewables are the cheapest form of power, that the government is investing in the lowest cost and that you'll get a $275 reduction in your power bill. And then your power bill turns up, and they keep going up and up and up. And now we have some of the highest electricity prices in the world despite having some of the best energy resources in the world, and there's no coherent explanation for why this is the case. The only thing now that the government resorts to is to effectively tell the Australian people not to believe your lying eyes. You can see your power bill go up every quarter. You can see our manufacturing industry being shipped offshore day after day, and yet the government continues to gaslight you—which is ironic, because they don't like gas—by saying, 'No, no, no, what we are doing is actually the cheapest way of delivering energy.' It's exactly not what the government's plan is at all.

The government continues now—or those who do support net zero—to be completely dishonest with the Australian people, and that is what this motion calls for. This motion calls for an honest debate about how much this so-called net zero transition will cost the Australian people. I just heard there from the previous speaker that the CSIRO says that renewables are the cheapest. They say not that at all. Their latest report says that in 2024—these are their latest numbers—coal is $111 a megawatt hour and a solar, wind and firm system is $116 a megawatt hour. They're the numbers. Now, in my maths, when I was at school, 111 was less than 116. So coal is the cheapest form of power—and note that I use the verb 'is', the present tense. In the present tense, in the present world, coal is the cheapest form of power, according to the CSIRO.

Now, I don't think we should just leave it to the likes of the CSIRO, because they've got things so wrong so often. So has AEMO. We hear, 'Let's listen to the Australian Energy Market Operator.' They've got it wrong, time and time again. I don't want to listen to the people who've got it wrong all the time; I want to listen to the workers out there who have lost their jobs in the nickel industry, in the plastics industry, in the urea industry—jobs that have all been shipped overseas since we started on this crazy agenda. When are we going to listen to them? I want to listen to the Australian families who can't afford to pay their bills anymore, not just because their electricity bills are going up but also because the cost of electricity flows through to the cost of everything. The Page Research Centre did a report earlier this year which showed that the increased costs of electricity in this country have also added $3,400 to the budgets of Australians through the extra costs of energy in producing groceries and moving yourself around this country. It is crippling our economy—this agenda that is putting the targeting of emissions reduction above all other goals.

I've always supported a reasonable reduction in our emissions, but I don't support it at the cost of destroying our economy—even at the cost, sometimes, of destroying our environment. This net zero agenda is now destroying koala habitats left, right and centre around our country, presumably and seemingly with no concern from those pursuing the agenda. It is just not working for the Australian people.

In terms of what the overall cost is, we know that a group called Net Zero Australia, a consortium of universities—the University of Melbourne, Princeton University and the University of Queensland—did an estimate of how much it's going to cost to get to net zero, and this is from the media release that was released by the University of Melbourne:

The cost of the transition is estimated at around $7-9 trillion invested in domestic energy and industrial infrastructure by 2060, around six times the business-as-usual amount.

Six times! And how much is $7 trillion to $9 trillion? Well, that is more than $250,000 for every Australian. Has there been an honest debate from those pushing net zero? Is it worth every Australian, on average, having to lose resources equivalent to $250,000 per person in this country—six times what it would cost to simply deliver energy like we have before? This is from people who support net zero; they're not against it. All these universities support it, and that's the estimate they put on it.

But we haven't had any economic modelling from the government about their targets and how much they're going to cost the Australian people. Net zero is costing Australians an arm and a leg, and it's about time we had a commonsense debate about it and a more reasonable option for the Australian people.

Dorinda Cox (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise because, once again, we're in a position where the coalition want to try and lecture Australians about affordability and honesty in the energy transition, as if they have an ounce of credibility left on this topic, as they claim, as they come in here with a straight face and say that there needs to be a much more honest conversation about the cost of transition. Well, let's talk about that honesty, shall we? Let's talk about the transparency of that. Let's talk about who really put Australians in this position, because the truth, on that matter, is very simple.

The biggest costs to our energy system, and the ones that households keep paying for, are from the decade of denial, delay and dysfunction delivered by those opposite. For 10 long years, the coalition ignored experts, ignored industry, ignored the science and ignored absolutely every warning about clinging to ageing coal-fired power stations, while the rest of the world was moving on. The previous speaker, Senator Canavan, loves to have his fantasies about coal. They left Australia dangerously overexposed to those global energy shocks. They left our grid old, fragile and expensive to run; they left us unprepared, and Australians have been paying the price ever since this has been happening. Now, after all the damage that was caused, the coalition have not just walked away from net zero altogether; they've run away from it.

The big, lashing tail of the coalition over there, the Nats, have told the Liberal Party, 'Leave net zero and run in the opposite direction away from that.' They didn't just fail to deliver on a transition; they've now abandoned even pretending to try, which is absolute lunacy. They're the only major political force in the country arguing that Australia should turn its back on the economic opportunities—I see senators from One Nation who'll get up and have a crack in a minute—the cheaper power and the global investment that net zero brings. This is not a plan. It's written on the back of an envelope or a napkin somewhere. That's what they presented to the Australian public. Now the coalition wants to posture as the champions of honesty on power bills. Let me be absolutely crystal clear: every bill spike, every coal breakdown and every bit of energy pain that Australians still feel traces back to their decade of climate infighting—22 policies, I think it was, Senator O'Sullivan.

The Australian Energy Council, representing those companies that run the power system, could not be clearer. They say that the least cost, lowest impact pathway is a grid dominated by renewables and firmed with batteries, gas and pumped hydro. They say that there is broad alignment across industry, contrary to what you hear from that side of the chamber. There is actually broad alignment and that industry want that energy mix that is required to ensure that surety for Australians. They say that Australia's transition is irreversible; there's no turning back—this fantasy that's been built up over there in a little puff of smoke. They say replacing ageing coal with renewable energy is not costless but is still much cheaper in the long run than just investing in more coal. There is no appetite for investment to keep coal-fired power stations. That is the clear message. They say that governments must provide certainty and stability in order to keep energy affordable. That certainty is exactly what the coalition destroyed when they were in power.

There are a couple of points I wanted to make. Senator Dowling gave you all the statistics that you need, but the wholesale electricity prices fell by one third last quarter, and we want to see this flowing through to retail bills soon. The energy experts are united. AEMO says that renewable energy firmed with storage and backed by gas is the lowest cost way to power Australia. The AEMC warns that delaying renewable generation and transmission will put upward pressure on those electricity costs. We need to ensure that renewables push prices down in the future, and policy chaos delivered by those opposite will only push prices up.

Sean Bell (NSW, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

One Nation has been clear: the cost of Labor and the Liberals' net zero experiment has been too great for Australian families and for Australian jobs. Now even the peak body for big energy companies, the Australian Energy Council, is admitting this and stating that we need a more honest and transparent public conversation about the real cost of this net zero madness. This should be ringing alarm bells in this place. For years, families, farmers and manufacturers have been told to swallow the rapid renewables rush and trust that cheaper power would magically follow, and it has not. The energy companies' own CEOs now admit that prices are set to keep climbing as billions are poured into renewables, more transition lines and more bureaucracy, but Australians do not see a transition; they see electricity bill shock.

Bills are in the thousands before they even turn on the heater for winter or the aircon for summer. Families are struggling, pensioners are being forgotten and small businesses are being smashed. For a cafe in the Illawarra, it is a choice between keeping the lights on or making a staff cut. For families in the Hunter and many families across Australia, this is a choice between groceries, fuel or their children's sporting fees. Australia's largest aluminium smelter is now asking whether it can keep the doors open beyond 2028, because it cannot lock in affordable energy. This is 1,000 jobs and livelihoods on the line. These are real people. If the company producing such a big share of our aluminium can no longer make the numbers work, the problem isn't Tomago; the problem is net zero. And what One Nation has been saying for years is simple: you cannot run our country on slogans and wishful thinking. Energy policy should begin with three non-negotiables. It needs to keep the lights on, keep the bills down and keep Australian jobs here. And we will give reminding this place that it is long past time this parliament stopped selling fairytales and started telling Australians the truth.

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

I too rise to speak on this MPI moved by my friend and colleague from Western Australia, Senator Dean Smith. It really does bell the cat when those opposite and their fellow travellers in the Greens stand up and say, over and over and over again, that renewable energy is the cheapest form of power. Meanwhile, every month, when people, individuals and businesses receive their energy bills, they see prices going up and up and up. And now we see from the supposed experts—those that those opposite claim to follow—that these power price increases could go on for at least a decade. But they've been saying that this transition was going to deliver cheaper power for years. Now, we have to wait another decade. How can you trust this government?

Let me give three examples from WA, Senator Smith. You will be very interested in these examples. I've got the evidence here, and I've met with these businesses just in the last week. Firstly, there's a small supermarket in the suburb of Maddington. The owner has got his bills and provided me with them. There's been an increase of 20 per cent off peak and 36 per cent on peak. Think about that. That is going to the grocery prices of every Western Australian who shops in that store and all those stores across WA who have seen the same ratcheting up of power prices. Those are increases in electricity prices of 20 per cent off peak and 36 per cent on the peak in a small supermarket in the suburb of Maddington in Western Australia. That is adding to every Western Australian's cost of living.

Let me give you a second example, this one in regional WA. The power bills of a food processor—not a huge food processor by any stretch of the imagination, but they are a high-energy user—have gone up from just over $2,000 dollars a day to $4,300 per day. That's from just over $2,000 to 4½ dollars per day. Think about what that is doing to the cost of their product. It's extraordinary. And those opposite say, 'But renewables are the cheapest form of power.' Wait a sec—we've had renewables as an increasing part of the grid for at least the last 20 years. Every year for the last 20 years we've had more renewables than the year before. Those opposite and their fellow travellers in the Greens have said it's the cheapest form of power, and yet every year we've seen prices go up. Here we have it: a 36 per cent increase in the peak rate of power.

I'll give you a third, much smaller example of a potato producer in the south-west of Western Australia who I was talking to last week. He runs irrigation off electricity and runs a small coolroom. His power bills have gone up $20,000 over the course of a year. That's $20,000 for a small, family food producer in the south-west of Western Australia. Think about what that is doing. Think about the combined impact of those three businesses I have just talked about. All of them have an increasing exposure to solar and wind—and batteries to a lesser degree—and yet their power prices have gone up by 36 per cent, by $20,000 a year and by well over $2,000 per day in each of those three examples. This is what Labor's ideological drive to net zero is doing to the Australian economy. This is what it is doing to small and medium sized businesses in Western Australia. It's taking a wrecking ball to our productivity. It's taking a wrecking ball to our international competitiveness. This cannot go on. We will not have an economy in this country if Labor keeps the reins for too much longer.

Karen Grogan (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The time for discussion has expired.