Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Hansard source

'The Albanese government is delivering.' Truer words were never said. They're delivering higher power prices. You only have to look at the evidence. Under the coalition, power prices reached their lowest level in eight years. Indeed, in our last term, power prices fell by eight per cent for households, 10 per cent for small business and 12 per cent for large businesses and industry. They're facts.

Now we have Labor in power, and you only have to look at the figures. Again they ring true. Look at New South Wales. Increases are going to go up by 24.9 per cent. That's $594 for households. In South Australia, it's $512. In South-East Queensland, it's $402. South-East Queensland is one of the engine rooms of our economy. In Victoria, it's a $352 increase from July. Look at the figures for small business. Small business helps to run the economy; it helps to run this country. Small business carried us through COVID, through the darkest days. Indeed, look at small business. In New South Wales, they are going to cop an $860-a-year increase on their power prices. In South Australia, it's $1,310. In South-East Queensland, it's $756. In Victoria, it's $4 less than that, at $752. If you are small-business person, how do you pay for that? Well, some of them just pass the costs onto their customers, but other businesses can't do that, so they just take home less pay and just do it tougher.

Words are important. When you go to an election promising 97 times that you're going to reduce power bills by $275, people listen. They expect that if you get into government, you are going to keep your promise. And yet Labor hasn't. They've let the Australian people down. But that's probably not all that that unexpected, because people are used to it. Let me tell you, they will remember. People have long memories. Come next election time, they're going to remember that broken pledge, that broken promise, that broken commitment by Labor. Two hundred and seventy-five dollars—that's what people expected to come off their power bills. How disappointed are they! And I'm sure that Labor members—as I have and the member for Fairfax has had—would have had constituents come into their office and say: 'Why am I paying higher power prices when you promised me that there would be a cut?' I'm sure that they're getting those, because I am, and every member would be.

Indeed, it's all about supply. Labor has torn up the trusted supply of gas, while energy generation projects are continually delayed under their policies.

As I say, words are important. When you have a treasurer who, on budget night, fails to mention the word 'infrastructure', it's inexplicable. Now, Josh Frydenberg, when he was Treasurer, had four budgets; 28 times he mentioned the word 'infrastructure'. Treasurer Morrison did 22 times in his three budgets. And yet the member for Rankin, in his big May opportunity, failed to mention the word 'infrastructure' once—not once. Do you know how long it's been since a treasurer, in the main budget for the year, failed to mention the word 'infrastructure'? Twenty-five years—a quarter of a century. I had the Parliamentary Library look it up. I did a little bit of research myself. Twenty-five years!

Infrastructure is important; so is keeping promises; so is reducing power prices. And I'm not just saying it for saying it's sake; I'm saying it because the people outside of this building are saying it. Moreover, they are expecting it. They are expecting power price cuts. But what they're copping—particularly those middle Australians who run small businesses and who run household budgets—is: they were expecting their power prices to come down, but, unfortunately, under the Labor, Greens and Teals government, they are going up. That is as true as I stand here right now. And those small business operators are the ones who take the risks; those households are the ones doing it tough.

The Treasurer can't bring himself to say 'infrastructure'. The Prime Minister can't bring himself to keep promises that he made prior to the election. And middle Australia is suffering as a result.

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