My thoughts are with the over half a million Victorians suffering through blackouts and extreme weather.
Blackouts are not only a major disruption to households and a cost burden on businesses but are also incredibly dangerous.
It’s the most vulnerable Australians, including our senior citizens and our essential services like hospitals that typically suffer the most.
What this incident makes clear is the need for an electricity system resilient to the weather, not reliant on it.
In times of crisis, our grid requires reliable backup energy generation that’s available 24/7.
It is incumbent on the government of the day to face that reality and safeguard delivery of affordable, reliable power.
Under Labor we are seeing a blinkered ‘renewables-only’ approach to energy, when what we need is delivery of stable and secure energy to keep the lights on and prices low.
The availability of gas is critical as we have seen with this event in Victoria where gas and hydro filled the gap.
Yet under Federal Labor’s ideological guidance, gas is becoming harder and harder to come by and with the Victorian Labor Government’s antiquated views, it’s even worse.
While our immediate concern is those impacted by the blackouts, the reality is prolonged energy outages result in higher energy prices.
Labor promised a cheaper and more reliable grid, yet Australians are paying some of the most expensive energy bills in the world for increasingly unreliable energy.