As inflation soars to the highest level in more than 20 years, the Albanese Labor Government has confirmed what many Australians already know: there will be no salvation in Labor’s election promise to cut power bills.
Asked whether he would guarantee Labor’s election promise to cut household power bills by $275 by 2025, the best the Prime Minister could muster was: “What we will do is deliver an energy policy.”
Shadow Minister for Climate Change and Energy Ted O’Brien MP said average wholesale electricity prices in the National Electricity Market for the month of June 2022 had doubled in every NEM jurisdiction compared to June 2021.
“In this Parliament’s first Question Time, the Prime Minister has confirmed a broken promise,” Ted O’Brien said.
“Labor has no plan to secure our energy supplies and get power prices back down.
“The Albanese Government’s first order of business in the new Parliament isn’t to tackle this challenge, but rather to legislate a climate bill that Labor itself says is unnecessary.
“This Prime Minister and Labor have abandoned a core election promise within weeks of the election.
“This tells the Australian people all they need to know about this Prime Minister’s priorities.”
TABLE 1: CHANGE IN AVERAGE NATIONAL ELECTRICITY MARKET WHOLESALE PRICES
| June 2021 ($/MWh) | June 2022 ($/MWh) | Change | |
| NSW | $160 | $398 | 2.5x |
| Qld | $201 | $400 | 2.0x |
| Vic | $84 | $303 | 3.6x |
| SA | $69 | $287 | 4.2x |
| Tas | $88 | $296 | 3.4x |
Source: Australian Energy Market Operator
Contact: Mitch Bland 0401 257 064