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House of RepresentativesThursday 5 February 2026

QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE

Mr BOWEN (McMahon—Minister for Climate Change and Energy) (14:42): I thank the honourable gentleman for his question. I take responsibility for the energy system in Australia. I take responsibility, as the minister, for progress.

I take responsibility for dealing with the headwinds and the setbacks. That's what a minister does. A minister takes responsibility and deals with it—doesn't hide.

Electricity rises before an election, for example—that's an option. That is an option available to a minister. That's not an option that I've chosen to take.

I take responsibility for the progress. I take responsibility for dealing with the setbacks. I take responsibility for the more than a thousand batteries that have been installed in the honourable member's electorate—the 1,139, that have been installed in the member's electorate—since 1 July.

I note that, in Victoria, the wholesale price of energy in May 2022 was $233 a megawatt-hour, and today it is $37 a megawatt-hour. I do take responsibility for all the above.

SourceHouse of Representatives, Thursday 5 February 2026 — official recordTA-260205-house-a5c75226f2c8:s154