TED O’BRIEN MP
DEPUTY LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION
SHADOW TREASURER
MEMBER FOR FAIRFAX
DAN TEHAN MP
SHADOW MINISTER FOR ENERGY AND EMISSIONS REDUCTION
MEMBER FOR WANNON
There is no end in sight to the skyrocketing cost of Labor’s energy transition. That’s the clear takeaway from the Productivity Commission’s latest report.
While the Commission stops short of providing a full price tag for Labor’s energy plan, a figure the Government has never released, it makes one thing abundantly clear.
The transition is costing more than anyone expected, a fact the Coalition has been warning about for years.
This comes on the back of new analysis from the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), revealing that transmission costs alone have doubled in just the past year.
After three years in office, Labor’s climate change and energy policies are delivering worse outcomes across every key metric:
- electricity prices up more than 30%;
- transmission project costs have doubled and are delayed;
- emissions have increased from 29% under the Coalition to 27% under Labor;
- gas prices up more than 30% and shortages are expected by the end of year; and
- the threat of blackouts is growing, with businesses being forced to power down to keep the grid stable.
The world’s fastest growing and most productive economies have in common access to abundant, cheap energy.
Australia will never restore its productivity growth to historic highs without substantially lowering energy costs.
The Productivity Commission’s findings are a timely reminder that energy policy must be central to any serious discussion about productivity and economic reform.
If the Albanese Government is genuine about lifting productivity, it must be willing to have a proper conversation about its failing energy transition and the soaring cost of energy.
The Coalition has been clear about how we will approach the upcoming productivity roundtable.
We will be constructive where we can and critical where we must.
We will assess ideas on the basis that they be at most “budget neutral”, not “budget positive” as the Treasurer insists.
You don’t raise living standards by raising taxes.
Australia is in a race against every other nation to attract international investment, so proposals must not harm our international competitiveness.
You don’t raise living standards by raising the cost of doing business.
The Coalition call on the Albanese Labor Government to release the cost of its energy transition.
The Australian people deserve nothing less than full transparency.
ENDS