MATTERS OF PUBLIC IMPORTANCE
Mr WILLCOX (Dawson) (15:44): I rise today to support the member for Wannon's critical motion. Let's face it: it's another day, and it's another Labor failure. In 2022 the Australian people were promised that if an Albanese Labor government was elected, they would have $275 per year cheaper power for their households.
What's happened? In excess of $1,300. That's how much power has gone up under the Albanese Labor government's watch.
The Australian people took the Labor party at their word. They said, 'Yes, we'll give you a go on the premise of $275 cheaper power.' But the Albanese Labor government never followed through. This wasn't a slip of the tongue.
This was promised 97 times—and it was not delivered. I do a lot of mobile offices and listening posts around my electorate. The Australian people are doing it tough.
They're living from pay to pay. When they get their electricity bill, whether at the end of the month or every three months, they wonder how they can afford to pay for it. Some people actually come to me crying and wondering how they will manage this Labor created cost-of-living crisis.
How do they pay their power bill? This is after they were promised that power for their household would be $275 cheaper. The flow-on effects of power prices are seen when you have a cup of coffee in the morning.
You go down to buy a cup of coffee from a small business—because this side of the House always supports small business—and they have had to put their coffee prices up because they have had to pay more for power. That drives inflation, and that is harder on household budgets. What about groceries?
Woolworths, Coles, IGA and Aldi are big shops, but they pay enormous electricity bills. What do they have to do? They have to increase the cost of their groceries and pass that on to their consumers.
Again, the cost of living is making it harder. I've got pensioners in my electorate who are sweltering because they won't turn the air conditioner on, or they can't afford to turn the air conditioner on. For them, it's a choice between turning their air conditioner on—and they can't afford the electricity—and maybe not being able to eat.
It is not good. It's not just households. It's businesses.
The power bill of Blue River Ice, a business in my electorate, has risen from $10,000 per month to $25,000 per month. The owner of that business, Francis Vigilante, has told me it's not sustainable. He's done everything possible to try to make his business sustainable.
He's brought a robot in to pack ice. He's got advanced refrigeration. He's even got solar on his roof.
A trigger warning for those opposite: solar doesn't work at night. He's got a 24/7 business! Government members interjecting— Mr WILLCOX: I knew it would be a trigger warning, because those opposite clearly don't get it.
That's why you need baseload power. It's power that's available 24/7—not just when the sun shines and not just when the wind blows. Francis, we are doing everything we can on this side of the House to show the government what they need to do, but it's very, very tough.
Every business I visit, as shadow assistant minister for manufacturing and sovereign capability, is talking about energy costs. Their energy costs are going through the roof. That's purely because of Labor's reckless race to renewables, and their renewable-only approach, which is driving power prices through the roof.
I ask those opposite: if renewables are so cheap, why are power prices going through the roof? Why are they skyrocketing? It's absolutely ridiculous.
That's why, on this side of the House, we are committed to nuclear power, no-emission technologies and baseload power that will provide power 24/7. We're committed to manufacturing jobs, and to families and communities—unlike those opposite, who are driving manufacturing offshore. Those opposite are driving the manufacturing industry offshore.
It's not good enough. Please do better.