MATTERS OF PUBLIC IMPORTANCE
Ms JORDAN-BAIRD (Gorton) (16:09): I rise to speak on today's MPI. There's been some really interesting rhetoric in the chamber this afternoon. I'm really proud to represent one of the fastest-growing electorates in the country.
My community is young, diverse and growing every day. I have met thousands of families in my community who are experiencing cost-of-living pressures at the moment. If the coalition think we don't understand cost-of-living relief for real Australian families, they are out of their minds.
Real cost-of-living relief for families has been at the forefront of our policy agenda this term of government, as it was for the entirety of our last term of government. We are taking significant steps to reduce household costs. We are taking strong action to provide energy bill relief to Australian households and businesses.
When it comes to power bill relief, we've provided three rounds of energy bill relief for homes and small businesses, to take the sting out of bills. We're providing up to $1.8 billion to extend energy bill relief for another six months, until the end of 2025, bringing the total energy bill relief fund commitment to $6.8 billion. Over 10 million households and around one million small businesses will receive an additional $150 rebate on their bills from July 2025.
My team and I have visited the Taylors Hill retirement village a number of times to sit down with our seniors and to help them complete their energy bill relief application forms. Many of them have told me how much of a difference this cost-of-living measure has made to their household budget. It is real cost-of-living relief.
It's more money in the pockets of more Australians. We've provided this energy bill relief while, at the same time, doing the overdue reform work to bring down bills for good. We've also acted to cap coal and gas prices. shielding Australians from the worst of the global energy crisis.
In the longer term, we're rolling out critical investments in renewable energy because the sun and wind don't send a bill. We've acted to make the energy market fairer. Our new rules, coming into effect in 2026, will make sure retailers aren't ripping off customers.
Changes include banning unfair fees and card surcharges, stopping sneaky price hikes and making sure customers who are facing financial hardship receive the best price the retailer has to offer. Then there's the upfront discount of around 30 per cent of the cost of home batteries. In Gorton we've seen an uptake of cheaper home batteries in 571 homes.
That's more money in the pockets of Aussie families. On this side of the House, cost-of-living relief matters. And we have the track record to prove that.
We have taken strong action to provide energy bill relief to Australian households and businesses, and those opposite have opposed this relief at every step. A decade of inaction has compromised our energy grid. When those opposite were last in government they had more than 20 different policies across a decade.
No-one knew the direction, no-one could plan and no-one could invest. The confusion around net zero shows that those opposite haven't learnt or done the work necessary to go in and create the right policies to solve this issue. The former coalition government left Australians without a power system, overexposed to offshore price shocks and overly reliant on ageing, increasingly unreliable coal plants.
They ignored the experts and refused to take advantage of our abundant sun and wind. They left households paying the price for a grid too reliant on expensive, unreliable, ageing coal. They said at the election, and they say to this day, that the solution to Australian energy bills is the most expensive and slowest energy possible—nuclear.
The member for Dawson restated the coalition's support for nuclear just moments ago. The coalition has opposed energy relief at every step, but it's not just that that they've voted against. They voted against cheaper child care, against cheaper medicines and against cheaper health care.
But we're getting on and delivering for all Australians. Only Labor has invested in reliable, affordable and clean energy—backed by experts and the Australian community—because we know our communities. And our communities know that, when it comes to cost-of-living relief, they can trust Labor.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Ms Claydon ): The time for discussion has now concluded.