LABOR’S “mismanagement” of energy is going to hurt Mallee hip pockets for “years to come”, warns Mallee MP Anne Webster.
She said Australia’s outlook was looking “grim” without reliable base-load energy production.
“Labor’s first budget is further evidence of their inability to provide a sound energy plan that will keep the cost of living down and ensure the lights stay on,” Dr Webster said.
“If this isn’t a lightbulb moment for Australia, a realisation the Albanese Government has no clue how to manage money or energy, then what will it take?
“Earlier this year, the Prime Minister told Australia he had a plan to help ease the cost-of-living pressures, particularly power bills.
“On 97 occasions, he promised your bill would go down by $275, now you will see your electricity bill go up by more than 56 per cent over the next two years and your gas bill will go up by more than 44 per cent.”
Dr Webster said the crisis had already had an impact on businesses in the Mallee facing higher input costs.
“I have copies of gas bills from one business which evidence a hike in cost from March to June at more than $310,000,” Dr Webster said.
“How can businesses survive with these exponential rises?
“It puts industries in Mallee, and therefore employment in our towns, at serious risk.
“The Energy Minister himself acknowledged that to reach Labor’s legislated 43 per cent 2030 emissions target, 40 wind turbines must be built every month – and 22,000 solar panels installed every day for the next eight years, let alone the 28,000km of poles and wires through private property and national parks.”
Last week’s Federal Budget told Australians to brace for power price increases.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he compared that with the former government “that changed the law so people wouldn’t know that this 20 per cent increase was occurring”.
“That decision was delayed, literally, until the days after the federal election on May 25,” he said on Monday.
“It should have been announced while the election campaign was actually on, the government intervened to change the law with the regulation signed by the then-minister, Angus Taylor, who’s now the Shadow Treasurer.
“It is an extraordinary act from a government that was prepared to say anything and do anything. They hid report after report and, at the same time, they acted recklessly on polling day about other issues.”
Asked when the government was going to intervene in the energy market, Mr Albanese said “clearly price is still a major issue” that the government needed to deal with.
“In the long-term, we’re dealing with what we’ve been left, four gigawatts left the system and only one gigawatt came in under the former government,” he said.
“That’s led to a shortfall. That, when combined with the Russian invasion of Ukraine that has led to a global spike in energy prices that is impacting the entire world, means that here’s there’s enormous pressure on the system.
“We know that households and businesses are under pressure and we want to alleviate that pressure.”
