Chris Bowen
McMahon · Australian Labor Party · Australia
“This builds on very important investments in our community, including 3,000 presentations to the Fairfield Medicare Urgent Care Clinic, including, in a couple of instances, members of my own family; 25,000 presentations to the Wentworthville urgent care clinic, which is important for the Greystanes and Pemulwuy community; and 22,000 prese…”
“Well, it's 1 July, an important day in our ambitions to deliver real change for Australians—real change that the Australian people instructed us to commence in 2022 and instructed us to keep going with in 2025. It's an important day with that real change and with a very strong focus on cost-of-living relief.”
“I thank the honourable member for the question. I can confirm for the honourable member that there is nothing 'so called' about free power when it's a requirement of law for the energy companies to provide it as an option to people in the relevant jurisdictions, including the constituents of Fowler.”
“I thank the honourable member for the question and thank her for our recent visit to a wonderful part of the world. One of the things we did was talk about cheaper home batteries. Today is 1 July, which means the cheaper home batteries policy is officially one year old today.”
“For those people who take that offer up, Morgan Stanley have found, for example, that some families could save $660 a year, which we on this side of the house think is a good thing. Those on that side of the house are opposed to it.”
“When we came to office, home batteries were in one in 60 houses. Now it's one in 17. That's wonderful for those families that are reducing their bills, in many cases to nothing and in some cases getting a rebate instead of a bill, but it's very good for putting downward pressure on energy prices for everyone.”
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“I thank the honourable member for his question. There's no doubt that energy prices have been under pressure in recent years. There's no doubt at all; we've been very clear about that. The Australian people know that. Energy prices in Australia are slightly below the OECD average, but that doesn't mean that that hasn't put huge pressure on Australian families and businesses as energy prices have gone up. That is a fact. There are two questions: how did we get here, and what are going to do about it? The fact of the matter is that, when there was a global energy crisis, Australia entered that crisis ill prepared—”
“As someone who holidayed in Taree as a kid, I'm happy to get the question from the honourable member for Lyne, because she represents a beautiful part of Australia. I'll give her that. It's a magnificent part of Australia. But I'd say this to the honourable member: every honourable member should be honest with the Australian people about their energy policies. Every honourable member should be honest about the impact of their energy policies on Australia. If you were inserting the most expensive form of energy known in the world—nuclear energy—you should be honest about the impact that would have on the people you purport to represent. I say this—”
“You can take action through energy bill rebates, which we've done three times. You can take action through supporting renewable energy, which we are doing and which has seen wholesale prices fall 44 per cent in the last quarter of last year. You can take action to ensure that as much of that as possible flows through to retail prices, which we're doing with things like solar sharer, which sees three hours of free power in the middle of the day to those Australians whom we're able to provide it to, which we support and those opposite oppose. So you have a choice: take action to help Australian families or have policies which will make the situation worse, which is what the National Party and their coalition partners, the Liberal Party, are proposing.”
“I appreciate the question. I'm not entirely sure what it is, though. He asked me why I won't answer a question and then he didn't ask a question. But I'm happy to say we believe energy prices are too high and we believe governments should take action to reduce them, and that's what we're doing. When you are dealing with higher energy prices, you can have a policy of introducing more of the cheapest, most reliable form of energy available, which is renewables, or you can have a $600 billion plan, which is the most expensive form of energy available and which is what the honourable member and his friends took to the Australian people at the last election—and they appear to be going down that road again. If you think energy prices are too high, as we do, then you take action to deal with it.”
“Now, when people are doing it tough, it is something to talk about. More importantly, you can get support. The Blacktown mental health clinic is nine to five, but you can also make an appointment after hours. This is the final one. This is really a lovely piece of good news. Bringing a little ray of sunshine into the world, a little baby, should be the best time of your life. But, for too many Australians, it isn't. One in five Australian women and one in 10 Australian men suffers perinatal depression at some point. Now there's a specific service, the Gidget House perinatal depression service, which will now be provided at Fairfield Hospital. It opened yesterday. We attended the opening ceremony on Friday. For people—young parents, new parents—doing it tough who need help, there's no shame.”
“In relation to cheaper medicines, I'm pleased to report that McMahon locals, since our cheaper medicines policy came in, have received $17.5 million in benefit. That's money that's better in their pockets than in anyone else's. That is a very good thing. There are two other developments. Last Friday was a busy day. I was very pleased to attend the Blacktown mental health clinic. I visited it with the Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care. The Premier came along to check it out as well, which I very much welcomed, together with the state Minister for Mental Health. Since that clinic opened, it has provided 1,000 instances of care. One of the big changes in my lifetime and I'm sure yours too, Madam Deputy Speaker Aldred, is that we can now talk about mental health. When I was a kid, it was taboo. You didn't talk about it.”
“I want to thank the Minister for Health and Ageing, who was here with us just a moment ago, for these really big improvements to services in my community which were so needed. Of course, urgent care clinics aren't for everyone all the time. I'm very pleased we've expanded the Medicare bulk-billing clinics as well through our bulk-billing incentive. We've seen a further eight clinics become 100 per cent bulk-billing, which has taken our number to over 70 clinics that provide bulk-billing only, which gives us the sixth-highest rate of bulk-billing in Australia. Again, that's very much needed in my community, and I very much welcome it. Again, that's good policy that's improving lives in my community.”
“I want to update the House on some very positive news for my community in relation to health services and provision. Firstly, there are the Albanese government's highly successful urgent care clinics. There are people in my community who have benefited very much from these urgent care clinics. In particular, the Westmead clinic, which services Greystanes, has seen 21,452 people through its doors. The Rooty Hill clinic, which services the parts of my electorate in the Blacktown City Council area, has serviced 20,085 patients. The Fairfield urgent care clinic, which is in my electorate, has so far serviced 10,936 Fairfield locals who were in need of care which was urgent but not an emergency. This has been a remarkable addition to our local service provision, and I'm very proud of it.”
“We do actually accept the science and the work of the CSIRO, and the Integrated System Plan outlines the pathway to 82 per cent renewables. Those are decisions made primarily by the private sector and investment, as to renewable energy, and by households when they decide to put solar panels on their roofs and a cheaper home battery in their garage, as they are doing in very, very big numbers indeed, which we welcome and those opposite have a big problem with.”
“I thank the honourable member for the question, given the honourable member denies the science of climate change. I'm not sure that he's particularly interested in how we get renewable energy, given he doesn't accept the scientific consensus of 99 per cent of scientists across the world. Nevertheless, I make this point. Firstly, we don't have a renewables-only energy policy. We have a policy to get to 82 per cent renewables, which is backed by gas peaking and firming for the rest of it. Eighty-two is not 100. There is a difference there. Secondly, our policy is informed by the experts, as is outlined by the Integrated System Plan and Gen C os t , which we accept. We accept the work of the CSIRO, which is confronting for the member for Flynn and those opposite.”
“That's a pretty broad question when it comes to renewable energy, and the vast majority of investment in renewable energy will come from the private sector. That's the fact. We do have government schemes to support renewable energy, most notably the Capacity Investment Scheme, which is a very successful scheme. The cost is commercial in confidence.”
“We think that's a good thing. Those opposite aren't too impressed with that. That's the difference between the two sides of the House. In relation to energy prices, as I said in my previous answer, the Australian people knew in 2025 what progress we'd made, what efforts we'd made and what obstacles we'd had to overcome. They looked at the two sides' policies; they looked at the records, and they asked us to serve a second term in office—one that we were humbled and honoured to receive. The member for Fairfax can take his fair share of the credit for that, to give due credit. As the architect of the opposition's nuclear policy, we're very grateful to him. We're very grateful for the $600 billion nuclear policy which he engineered, which he sold to the Australian people and which the Australian people cast a verdict on.”
“I understand the honourable gentleman doesn't want me to mention the 2,390 households in his electorate that have received the cheaper home battery, but I feel obliged. I feel obliged to speak on their behalf to defend their right to a cheaper home battery that those opposite opposed. Those opposite are talking a lot about spending cuts at the moment. Well, they would've cut the Cheaper Home Batteries Program—that's what Australians would want to know—before even more Australians get a chance to access a cheaper home battery. The Prime Minister also made the point after the election that we've seen so many Australians reduce their bills permanently after the 2025 election—225,000 Australian households, times 2.5 in terms of numbers of people, who reduced their bills permanently, in many cases to zero. In many cases, they got a rebate.”
“Is it any wonder we saw an unknown Liberal MP say on the weekend—I'm going to sanitise this, Mr Speaker, out of great respect for you and the House. I'm going to make the language parliamentary. The member said, 'Everything the member for Hume touches turns to'—custard. He was a disaster as energy minister and he was a disaster as shadow Treasurer. The definition of insanity would be to put someone with a disastrous track record into the top job, hoping things will be different.”
“I can tell the House that since we came to office, in May 2022, we have actually added 7.7 gigawatts of dispatchable large-scale power, and that's not even counting the cheaper home batteries that we've installed. That's a lot of repair work done after the period 2018 to 2022, when we saw the member for Hume announce a billion-dollar program which delivered not one single watt—not a kilowatt, not a megawatt, not a gigawatt—to the energy grid. The member for Hume was told that the Snowy 2.0 scheme was running two years late, and he didn't tell the Australian people. I can tell the House it is now 70 per cent complete, repairing the work of the member for Hume. The member for Hume knew there was a 20 per cent increase in bills, which he hid.”
“In Queensland, 55 per cent of the cheaper home batteries that are going in are in rural and regional areas. So this is very much a regional and rural story as well as being a story of the outer suburbs. But the whole grid—every single Australian—benefits when we flatten out demand with more Australians storing their cheap renewable energy from the middle of the day for the night. That helps the grid. The honourable member asked me about the decade of neglect. It is, of course, the case that we have had a lot of work to do to repair that damage. Over the decade of the Liberal government, we saw four gigawatts of dispatchable power leave the grid and only one gigawatt come on.”
“I thank my honourable friend for the question, and, more importantly, I thank her for the absolutely outstanding work she does as Special Envoy on Climate Change and Adaptation. I'm very honoured to have her as a member of our team. The honourable member asked me how the Albanese government is working with households, and I can say to the House that 225,531 cheaper home batteries have now been installed since 1 July. When you consider that the average size of an Australian household is 2½ people, that's well over half a million Australians—more than the population of the ACT—who have benefited from reducing their energy bills by up to 90 per cent. That is increasing by about 1,000 households a day, and 42 per cent of those households are in rural and regional Australia.”
“I can name 225,531 Australian households that have reduced their bills to zero with a cheaper home battery, and I can name every single Australian household that's seen its energy prices at a wholesale level fall by 44 per cent in the last quarter thanks to record renewable rates that have been introduced by this government's policies after a decade of denial and delay, after the member for Hume presided over four gigawatts of dispatchable power leaving the grid and only one gigawatt coming on, which was a 'Taylor made' energy crisis in this country.”
“I note that in New South Wales as well, 77,974 cheaper home batteries have been installed since 1 July, meaning those people have reduced their energy bills by up to 90 per cent, which helps them obviously and helps the entire grid as well, reducing prices for everyone. And it played no small part— An opposition member: Rich people! They say 'rich people' when 44 per cent of the cheaper home batteries that have been installed are in regional Australia.”
“We went to the 2022 election with a very clear policy, and we've been implementing that policy. The Australian people endorsed that policy last year, knowing the challenges that we faced in implementing the policy. I note that in New South Wales, in May 2022, the price of energy at a wholesale level was $320 a megawatt hour, and it's now $75 a megawatt hour. An opposition member: Wholesale! Those over there say 'wholesale prices'. If wholesale prices don't count, why did the member for Hume promise to make them $70 a megawatt hour? To be fair to him, in full disclosure, he came nowhere near meeting that promise, because when he left office they were $280 a megawatt hour.”
“That's absolutely right, and it's why the Albanese government has continued to deliver clear and properly resourced measures to combat prejudice, to strengthen cohesion, to close the gap and to reduce the dangerous proliferation of guns while emphasising the importance of harmony, shared wellbeing and reconciliation. It's an incredible mercy that the attack which occurred at the Survival Day rally in Perth did not have its intended effect. This is a time for us all to reflect on the contribution we can each make to tolerance and understanding, to resisting the rush to division and the rush to outrage and accusation that is so prevalent in social media, and to practising moderation in our language and peacefulness in our conduct.”
“As I've observed before, by far and away the most harmful prejudice in our history is racism directed against First Nations Australians. I find it shocking that when, as a local member, I draw attention through social media to the availability of NAIDOC Week grants, there follows a torrent of deeply racist responses—responses that are devoid of compassion or courage or common humanity. Among the emails I received this week was a message from a Whadjuk Noongar member of my community who, rightly, said that good thoughts by themselves are not enough.”
“It is vitally important that our civil and political rights and freedoms are maintained, both for their own sake as human rights and because they are intrinsic to our shared wellbeing. The ability of our community to be involved in political life, to debate important and difficult issues, to protest injustice and the misuse of power, to campaign for environmental protection, refugee rights, changing the date of Australia Day or in support of people suffering unconscionable harm in Myanmar, Iran or Gaza is fundamental to our democracy. Yet this vital aspect of our democratic system is undermined by the threat of prejudicial violence like what was seen in Perth, and it can be undermined by poorly calibrated responses to terror.”
“On 26 January, at a Survival Day rally in the Perth CBD, there was an attempt to cause a mass-casualty event using an improvised explosive device filled with nails and ball bearings, thrown into a crowd that had gathered peacefully to support justice, voice, treaty and truth for First Nations Australians. It is immensely fortunate that the IED failed and, as the Prime Minister has rightly noted, it's entirely appropriate that the incident is being considered as a possible terrorist event. I was grateful this week to be briefed by the WA Minister for Police, Reece Whitby, and the WA Commissioner for Police, Col Blanch. What occurred was a frightening moment that could have been a catastrophic tragedy. I acknowledge all the attendees who responded calmly and safely in a bewildering and fraught situation, including the police.”
“I note that, in Victoria, the wholesale price of energy in May 2022 was $233 a megawatt hour, and today it is $37 a megawatt hour. I do take responsibility for all the above.”
“I thank the honourable gentleman for his question. I take responsibility for the energy system in Australia. I take responsibility, as the minister, for progress. I take responsibility for dealing with the headwinds and the setbacks. That's what a minister does. A minister takes responsibility and deals with it—doesn't hide. Electricity rises before an election, for example. That's an option. That is an option available to a minister. That's not an option that I've chosen to take. I take responsibility for the progress. I take responsibility for dealing with the setbacks. I take responsibility for the more than a thousand batteries that have been installed in the honourable member's electorate, the 1,139, that have been installed in the member's electorate since 1 July.”
“I thank the honourable member for his question and congratulate him on hosting 1,549 cheaper home batteries that have been stored in the electorate of Wide Bay since 1 July. And I note that in May 2022 the wholesale price of energy in Queensland was $347 a megawatt hour and is today $58 a megawatt hour.”
“Interestingly, as many Australians installed a home battery in the last six months of 2025 as in all the entire five years previously. That shows good policy in action. Of course, this comes, in terms of the broader context of the last quarter, with renewable energy hitting record highs—”
“I thank my honourable friend for the question. What a difference the member for Bonner has made in just the short period she's been here. I'm happy to inform the House: 219,750—that's how many cheaper home batteries have been installed since 1 July, around a thousand more than this time yesterday. That's the sort of embracing of cheaper, cleaner energy we are seeing right across Australia, particularly in rural and regional Australia. Forty-two per cent of the cheaper home batteries that have been installed have been in rural and regional areas. People in these areas know that what's good for the planet is good for their pocket. New data out today from the Clean Energy Council shows how important this is for the grid in reducing prices—not just for those who have the battery but for everyone.”
“I thank the honourable member for his question. The government's been very clear: wholesale prices are one of the inputs to retail prices. There are other impacts on retail prices as well, but they are also the element of final retail prices that government policies have the most influence on. That's a good thing because we've seen them fall by 44 per cent just in the last quarter. We saw wholesale prices in Queensland in May 2022 of $347 per megawatt hour. You know what they are today? They are $58 per megawatt hour. We're going to see, increasingly, that sort of impact if we keep the policy settings in place that see more of the cheapest, most reliable form of energy penetrate our energy system. We will see it continue to flow through to wholesale prices and retail prices, and we'll also see continued reforms—”
“It's a direct result of the increase in renewables across our grid. We know there's much more work to do to ensure that every Australian benefits from the increase in renewables and solar. That's why we're doing things like solar sharer, which those opposite oppose. One thing that unites them is that they're opposed to free electricity in the middle of the day, apparently. They're the sorts of policies that this government will keep implementing and that those opposite simply don't understand.”
“I thank the honourable member for his question. I note that, in his electorate, 1,128 Flynn households have introduced a cheaper home battery under our policy and have reduced their energy bill by 90 per cent or more and, in many cases, have reduced their bill to nothing and now get a rebate. That's a common story across rural and regional Australia, which I'm sure all honourable members welcome. Whether they're rural and regional members from the Labor Party, the National Party, One Nation or aren't sure, they all welcome this great news. The fact of the matter is that, in Queensland, wholesale prices of electricity in May 2022 were $347 a megawatt hour. They are now $58 a megawatt hour. Some of the biggest reductions we saw in the last quarter were in Queensland, and that's a good thing.”
“I thank the honourable member for Nicholls for his question. I say 218,000 Australian families have reduced their energy bills to very close to zero, or are now getting a rebate, because of the Albanese government's cheaper home batteries policy, and every single Australian saw wholesale prices fall by 44 per cent in the last quarter of last year. We have more work to do to make sure that flows through to retail prices, and we intend to keep that work up. The member for Hume promised that wholesale prices would be $70 a megawatt hour; they were $341 when he left office in 2022. That's the track record of the member for Hume. And in Victoria, the wholesale price of electricity in May 2022 was $233 a megawatt hour. Today, it is $37 a megawatt hour.”
“The member for Lindsay has expressed an aspiration to lead, but she's got some catching up to do. She's installed 1,592 batteries in Lindsay, which I read is about 1,591 more than leadership votes she would have in any proposed ballot. While those opposite concentrate on rolling each other, we continue to concentrate on rolling out batteries, rolling out renewable energy and rolling out cheaper, more reliable energy, because that's what the Australian people want.”
“In the National Party, I'm pleased to report the member for Flynn has beaten the member for Maranoa for the first time this week on 1,128 batteries, compared to the member for Maranoa's 922 batteries. But perhaps reports of a comeback by the member for Riverina have something in them, because he's blitzing it with 2,390 batteries in the Riverina. I was pleased to visit Wagga Wagga before Christmas to visit some of those batteries. In New South Wales, the member for Mitchell has been very busy on the numbers. We've seen Mitchell instal 2,889 batteries—the highest number in New South Wales. I was pleased to visit the Litchfields with the Attorney-General just a couple of weeks ago. They are very pleased with their home battery. He's in front of the member for Lindsay, who also has good numbers.”
“An important part of that story is home batteries. I'm pleased to report to the House that we have now installed 218,023 home batteries. As I've said to the House before, this is very much a rural, regional and outer suburban story. Taking some electorates at random, the member for Hume is doing very well. In his electorate, we've seen 2,404 home batteries installed, which is more than the electorates of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane combined—in the electorate of Hume. He's way ahead of the member for Farrer on numbers. In Farrer, we've seen 1,862 home batteries installed, which is good but behind the member for Hume. He's also in front of the member for Canning on 1,986 batteries. The member Canning has conceded he's unlikely to take top spot when it comes to batteries.”
“I thank my honourable friend for the question. As a fierce advocate for cheaper and more reliable renewable energy, I'm happy to give the member for Bennelong and the House a progress report since we last sat. We've seen the December quarter figures. We saw record energy demand in Australian history in the December quarter, and we saw the grid cope very well. We saw 24 gigawatts worth of demand, and, because of renewables hitting 51 per cent for the first time in Australian history, the grid coped well—52 per cent in Western Australia. NEM, National Energy Market, emissions are the lowest they've ever been, and it is no coincidence that wholesale prices were down 44 per cent in the quarter. Renewables are up, reliability is up, prices are down and emissions are down, and that is no coincidence.”
“Western Sydney has been mentioned a little bit in recent days, which I regret, but I want to tell the story of Western Sydney coming together, in a very unified and strong fashion, to condemn this violence and to extend our condolences to every single impacted person. When Bondi was attacked, Australia was attacked. It's in Australia's DNA to reject antisemitism. It's in Australia's DNA to respect faith, to practice religion freely and to live together in peace. It's in Australia's DNA to stand with the Jewish community in their time of need. So let us gather in this parliament not only to remember and offer our sympathies but also to say that we will continue to do so for as long as those sympathies are accepted by the impacted Australians.”
“Every single right-minded Australian comes together with that sentiment. On behalf of my electorate and my community, I want to express that sentiment. In the days following the attack, I was struck again by the spontaneous acts in Western Sydney, like the makeshift floral tribute which emerged in Cabramatta for people who couldn't get to Bondi to lay their wreaths at Bondi Pavilion. It was a simple street sign in Cabramatta that became a Western Sydney shrine, where mums, dads and families turned up on Saturdays and Sundays and quietly laid a wreath—again, as I said, showing that Western Sydney spirit, giving blood and supporting in any way that they could. Faith leaders throughout Western Sydney were uniting.”
“I had calls from constituents saying, 'We can't donate blood; there are not enough spots,' and had to explain to them that it wasn't because there weren't enough chairs; it was simply because demand was so high as, in the Lifeblood facilities in Blacktown, in Liverpool, and elsewhere in Western Sydney, people were simply taking all the spots to donate blood. So this was the very best of Australia. But, overwhelmingly, today is about the parliament coming together as one, to extend our condolences to every family who lost someone in the Bondi tragedy—an empty chair at Hanukkah, an empty chair at Shabbat dinner, an empty chair at birthdays and family celebrations for eternity. That chair represents stories never told, adventures never shared and a life that should have been lived to the fullest.”
“As we saw the worst unfold, we also saw the best of Australia come forward: those who stood up to assist in the face of incomprehensible danger to themselves, whether they were formally first responders—and I want to recognise the bravery of the New South Wales police who were on site, and the surf lifesavers, who save lives every day but weren't contemplating having to save them in this context—or those who were simply having a day out with their families, who didn't contemplate that they would need to risk their own lives that day to save others, but risk their own lives and save others they did. Then there were those, of course, who weren't there, who couldn't be there, who couldn't help, but felt a visceral need to help, who lined up to donate blood in the days following, right around Australia, as the call went out to do.”
“In the weeks since, we've mourned with and cared for Australia's Jewish community, and that caring must continue indefinitely. We must wrap our arms around that community and grieve alongside them, with all of them—especially, as I know many members have mentioned, for the tragic loss of Matilda, who was stolen at the tender age of 10. It has been said that there is a word in the English language for someone who loses their partner—'widow' or 'widower'; there's a word for someone who loses a parent—'orphan'; but there's no word for someone who has to bury their child, because it is too confronting and horrible a concept to be captured by a mere word. Every child is precious, and no parent should ever have to bury their child as Matilda's parents had to do.”
“There's a small number of events in everyone's lifetime where you and everyone you know can remember where they were when they heard the news. There is no doubt, I think, that for every single Australian the tragic events at Bondi meet that category. For those of us who live in Sydney, we immediately, when we found out, made inquiries as to where our families and our children were, and immediately we were glued to television sets and to telephones, checking social media, as we watched the horrific events unfold. And what unfolded was a cowardly act of hate-filled antisemitism, one which every single right-minded Australian has condemned and will always condemn. For the families of the victims, their lives were changed forever. But it's true to say our country was changed forever as well.”
“I'm pleased to tell the House that 15,825 Western Australian families have installed a cheaper home battery since 1 July—in many instances, reducing their bills to zero or getting a rebate instead of getting a bill. They're actually getting money in their bank account rather than getting a bill. That is the difference that delivery makes. We have much, much more to do. We intend to keep going with that task, to repair the 10 years of delay, denial and dysfunction of those opposite.”
“I thank the honourable member for her question. We would agree with the chief executive officer of Vinnies that energy prices are too high. That's why we're working hard to reduce them. That's why we're working so hard. That's why we're working hard to ensure more energy supply in Western Australia. Two coal-fired power stations in Western Australia announced their closures under the former government, Muja A and Muja B. Minister Taylor's scheme, UNGI, delivered zero gigawatts for Western Australia. In contrast, 1½ gigawatts of renewables and 1.2 gigawatts of large-scale storage have been added in Western Australia since May 2022. A further half a gigawatt of storage in Western Australia has been delivered under the Capacity Investment Scheme.”
“We recognise there's more work to do to see that roughly 30 per cent reduction in wholesale prices in the last quarter flow through to bills. Australians aren't seeing that yet in their bills. We want to see them receive that as soon as possible. That's why we're reforming the default market offer. That's why we're introducing solar sharer—so that as many Australians as possible can access three hours of free electricity in the middle of the day. You've got to be pretty negative to oppose free electricity in the middle of the day, but they find a way. They are actually opposed to Australians having a right to free electricity. That's how negative those opposite have become. I know how hard it is in opposition. We get it. We know it's tough. But at least find something you can support.”
“I thank the honourable member for his question. We agree; energy bills are too high. That's why we're working so hard to get them lower. That's the whole point. That's what this government understands. We're doing that by introducing more supply into the system, reversing the situation where four gigawatts of dispatchable power left the grid and only one gigawatt came on. We're reversing that and making sure more energy is connected to the system. We're providing short-term bill relief in the meantime—something we've done three times and the honourable member opposed three times. It takes some gall to oppose energy bill relief and then come in here and demand that energy bills be lower. We recognise that energy bills are too high.”
“Seven coal-fired power stations in New South Wales, totalling 11.3 gigawatts, announced their closures under the former government, including Liddell, Mount Piper, Eraring, Bayswater and Vales Point B. Do you know how many gigawatts minister Taylor's UNGI scheme delivered for New South Wales? The member for Eden-Monaro is onto it—none! Zero gigawatts were delivered under the UNGI scheme. By contrast, 5.7 gigawatts of renewables, one gigawatt of large-scale storage and one gigawatt of firming gas have been added in New South Wales since May 2022. A further 5.4 gigawatts of renewables and 1.2 gigawatts of storage in New South Wales have been selected under our Capacity Investment Scheme. That's what delivery looks like for the people of New South Wales.”
“I thank the honourable member for his question. He's from New South Wales, and the wholesale price of electricity in New South Wales in May 2022 was $320 a megawatt hour. For this quarter it is $90 a megawatt hour. The retail increase that was hidden by then-minister Taylor in New South Wales was $227, or 14 per cent, for households and $1,130 for small businesses. I wonder whether the member for Hume cares to apologise for hiding that increase before the last election—for deliberately hiding it from the Australian people? I could print out the instrument he signed to change the law to hide the increase and distribute it to the caucus. I'd need a lot of paper—not 40 but 94—but I could do it. We could all hold it up—the instrument that the member for Hume signed to hide the increase in power prices before the 2022 election.”
“I thank the member for the question. My message to his constituents and to the people of Victoria is that we will continue to work without reservation to put downward pressure on energy prices by introducing more of the cheapest and most reliable forms of energy. The fact is that in Victoria the wholesale price of electricity in May 2022 was $233 a megawatt hour; it is today $77 a megawatt hour over the last quarter. The retail increase in Victoria that wasn't known for the 2022 election—”