Malcolm Roberts (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answer given by the Minister for Industry and Innovation and the Minister for Science (Senator Ayres) to a question without notice I asked today relating to electricity prices.

I rise to take note of the answer from Minister Ayres to my question regarding deceitful government messaging on electricity prices. Well, actually, I'll correct myself. I didn't get any answers to my questions. I got responses to my questions, but they were talking more about someone named Taylor in the lower house. It was not that I could find an answer, as I said. Causing a minister to be directed twice by the President for relevance was a new personal record for one of my questions, so thank you, Minister Ayres. You're afraid to give us a true response.

As I travel throughout Queensland and Australia, one question I'm often asked is this: why are we being told electricity prices are coming down when my bill keeps going up? The answer is that this government has separated electricity connection charges from charges for electricity use. By only concentrating on half the actual electricity charge, they can say prices have fallen when they have actually gone up, because there's the other half of the bill, the connection charge and other fees.

Solar won't save you, because those transmission lines need to be maintained, and power companies don't do that for free. If you install solar power on your roof thinking it will save you enough money to pay even for the insulation, then think again. It's proving that it isn't. Energy companies need to spread the cost of the grid across every home connected to get maintenance and capital costs back. The less revenue they get from supply, the more they need from the connection charge.

A typical connection in Queensland is now paying more than $500 a year in connection charges in addition to the cost of the electricity. Solar only generates during the day, and now selling that power into the grid has become pointless, with homes paid a few cents a kilowatt hour. Solar alone doesn't cut it anymore, and you need another $5,000 for a battery. The costs just mount up because people don't include the total cost of the solar and wind system. But the battery just stores enough for a day without sun, so homeowners, even with solar and battery, won't be able to disconnect from the grid. These connection charges will be with you forever. I point out that the real cost of that battery is $10,000, yet the government at state and federal levels are subsidising batteries at $5,000 a unit. So you're paying twice.

For the record, wholesale power prices have risen from $65 a kilowatt hour in 2020 to over $100 dollars per kilowatt hour today. The reduction comes from daytime solar. That's what the minister was talking about. There are three hours when there is a glut, causing prices to go negative. The Left may not understand this. Those negative daytime prices in the middle of the day must be balanced by extreme prices at other times. This is why the Australian Energy Regulator's cap is -$1,000 during a glut but—wait for it—tops out at $25,000 a kilowatt hour at other times.

In China, they're selling coalfired power for 8c a kilowatt hour. We used to have the cheapest electricity in the world, when we relied on coalfired power stations. Now, with increasing quantities of solar and wind and all the paraphernalia that goes with it, we have got, apart from three countries in Europe, the highest cost of electricity in the world. You don't see those prices of $25,000 a kilowatt hour in internet memes. At this rate, One Nation will need to commission more than Fire the Liar trucks.

Let's have a look at a few prices. A coalfired power station in Australia is usually at a mine mouth, with no transport. The cost is 26c to 33c a kilowatt hour. That's from coal. We transport all the way to China. They produce it and sell it for 7c to 8c a kilowatt hour. Our coal, our gas and our oil are helping people overseas, but we're not allowed to use the stuff here. One Nation will liberate the hydrocarbon fuels that liberated humanity. Look at how far we've come in the last 150 years. A One Nation government will liberate Australia. A One Nation government will restore our Australia.

Question agreed to.