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| Scott Morrison questioned over 'disastrous performance' in Wentworth byelection – politics live | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Barnaby Joyce is being super helpful by speaking to Ben Fordham on 2GB | |
| Jennifer Westacott, of the Business Council, doesn’t seem thrilled with what the government has announced in the energy space, but welcomes it as a step towards an actual policy: | |
| “The business community supports the government’s decision to adopt the ACCC’s recommendation to introduce a benchmark price and supports any moves to lower electricity prices,” she said in a statement. | |
| Business has been crying out for a workable and durable national energy policy framework to deliver affordable and reliable energy whilst also helping to meet our international commitments. | |
| The intention to convene a meeting of the major energy retailers in the coming weeks to discuss current standing offers and the implementation of a price benchmark is another welcome move. | |
| Determining a price benchmark needs to be done in consultation with industry to ensure price reforms are fit-for-purpose, protect competition in the market and provide the best outcomes for both consumers and businesses. | |
| Importantly, introducing a benchmark price is just one of more than 50 recommendations made by the ACCC to help lower power prices. We call on the federal government to work with the states, territories and industry on implementing a range of other recommendations, that as a package, are likely to deliver significant savings for consumers. | |
| Business backs the implementation of the reliability obligation – and continues to do so – but it is only one piece of the puzzle. | |
| Policy uncertainty has paralysed investment in dispatchable generation for a decade. The government’s intention to introduce a new program to underwrite new investment in firm electricity supply must not have the unintended consequence of undermining investment from the private sector. | |
| We look forward to working closely with government on the design of the program. | |
| Ad hoc intervention in the energy market, such as underwriting generation investment or forced divestment, is sending a signal to the world that investing in Australia comes with considerable risks. In the long term, this will only result in less investment in energy generation, less reliable energy and ultimately higher prices. | |
| The business community would be concerned at any move to consider forced divestments which would send the wrong signal on investment. | |
| Australia needs policies that support new investment and deliver lower prices. We should be cautious that new interventions into the market do not increase sovereign risk and discourage the new investment the sector urgently needs. | |
| Michael Keenan has the next dixer and we are all staring at the clock, watching and hoping, wishing and every other thing 50s girl groups sang about, for Scott Morrison to call time after this. | |
| In Senate estimates, the finance minister, Mathias Cormann, has backed Malcolm Turnbull’s version of why the $444m grant was given to the Great Barrier Reef Foundation, conceding it was in part to help the budget bottom line by incurring the cost in one year. | |
| Cormann: “I completely accept Mr Turnbull’s description of some of the considerations at the time. We indeed were facing a position or situation where there was an identified need for a substantial investment into the future health of the Great Barrier Reef. We had advice from the department of the environment … that it would be easier or more successful in leveraging further private sector investment into the future health of the Great Barrier Reef if the federal government contribution was structured through a non-government vehicle and furthermore given the substantial improvement in budget position in 2017-18 … there was substantial scope to make that investment … by way of a one off investment rather than to put in place a recurrent liability over a number of years. That is the decision we have made – we stand by that decision, it is a good decision.” | |
| Despite backlash over the one-off grant to a private foundation, Scott Morrison has also owned it as a way to pay for the reef without blowing the budget. | |
| Catherine King to Greg Hunt: | |
| My question is to the minister for health: Can the minister confirm that he in fact took a year to list Hepatitis C drugs, two years to list whooping cough vaccine, and five years to list a lung cancer drug, and that the health department’s own annual report shows that one in eight medicines are not listed within the government’s own time frame of six months? How can this government boast about PBS listings when, in fact, it itself has been delaying life-assisting drugs? | |
| Hunt starts by calling King the “member for Balla-rort”, which he then calls a “Freudian slip”. (I don’t think someone nicknamed Yorrick, who had to apologise for swearing at a NT mayor in a meeting, should be making cute with the “Freudian slips”. | |
| He’s made to withdraw and then denies King’s question. | |
| The Australian Conservation Foundation CEO, Kelly O’Shanassy, is also not a fan: | |
| After declaring the national energy guarantee dead, Prime Minister Morrison today announced a suite of policies to cut electricity prices and boost electricity reliability. There was one crucial factor missing: a policy to curb climate pollution. | |
| It beggars belief that in the week following a byelection wipeout, where climate concern was the number-one issue, the Morrison government has put forward an energy policy that ignores climate change. | |
| The Morrison government’s plan to underwrite investments in new ‘firm’ power could be a useful mechanism if designed properly, but it should not become a Trojan horse to fund new coal-fired power stations or refurbish old ones. | |
| While the prime minister and energy minister say their approach is technology neutral, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has just told us that some technology – burning coal – poses a grave risk to life. | |
| There are a range of ways the government could support cleaner, cheaper, on-demand power and increase competition, but none of them should allow public money to be used for investment in new or extended coal-fired power. | |
| The government could support cleaner, cheaper, on-demand power by underwriting more pumped hydro and battery storage and positioning the Clean Energy Finance Corporation to manage the scheme. | |
| The last thing Australia needs is a new dirty, expensive coal-fired power station. | |
| It’s time for our government to take an approach to energy that doesn’t continue to damage our climate, our health and our future. | |
| Adam Bandt is also not a fan of the government’s latest energy plan: | |
| “This price ‘safety net’ move is an absolute con,” says Bandt in a statement. | |
| “When you read the fine print, the so-called ‘cap’ won’t apply to 80-90% of customers.” | “When you read the fine print, the so-called ‘cap’ won’t apply to 80-90% of customers.” |
| “And the CEO of Energy Australia has even threatened to put up the prices of the 80-90% of customers to make up for their lost profits if the government forces the power bills of 10-20% of customers down,” he says. | |
| The government’s so-called safety net has holes so big that most people will fall through them. | |
| The government’s energy plan is also to pay polluters to keep on polluting through a coal-slush fund. | |
| While the Greens want to make the polluters pay, the Liberals want to pay the polluters to keep on polluting. | |
| The government’s latest appalling move is to strip money from schools and hospitals and give it to coal-fired power stations. | |
| It’s like taking money from the health budget and giving it to an asbestos business. | |
| Scientists are telling us to shut down one coal-fired power station per year between now and 2030 but instead the Liberals want to build more. | |
| If the government takes public money and gives it to coal, they’re toast. They won’t survive the next election and I’ll be glad to see the back of them. | |
| Bill Shorten to Scott Morrison: | Bill Shorten to Scott Morrison: |
| Can the prime minister confirm that, a year ago, he said, ‘Evidence-based policy is the national energy guarantee – it means lower prices, more reliable energy, and we meet our obligations to the environment. I mean, why wouldn’t you want that, Bill Shorten?’ Well, I still want that, and the prime minister used to want that. So why is the prime minister walking away from the national energy guarantee he backed last year? | |
| Morrison: | Morrison: |
| The government’s energy policies are about bringing down electricity prices, and the key component of what we announced today was the reliability guarantee, which forces big energy companies to contract reliable energy supply into the market, which is what keeps power prices down and keeps the lights on, Mr Speaker. That’s what our policies are focused on. It’s about taking the big companies to task on energy and electricity to make sure they do the right thing, Mr Speaker, and to ensure that the big stick of legislation is there to ensure that those companies do the right thing. | The government’s energy policies are about bringing down electricity prices, and the key component of what we announced today was the reliability guarantee, which forces big energy companies to contract reliable energy supply into the market, which is what keeps power prices down and keeps the lights on, Mr Speaker. That’s what our policies are focused on. It’s about taking the big companies to task on energy and electricity to make sure they do the right thing, Mr Speaker, and to ensure that the big stick of legislation is there to ensure that those companies do the right thing. |
| Those opposite jeer and sneer when it comes to the government taking a big stick to electricity companies, Mr Speaker. That’s what they do. They don’t share our view that electricity companies need to [be held to account]. By the end of this year, they will have the opportunity to vote for our legislation, Mr Speaker. | |
| Butler waves his “big stick” again, Morrison talks about unions, and I start looking for a monkey’s paw to wish me anywhere but here. | |
| The big stick | The big stick |
| Honestly, there is a reason my dad calls this place bullshit castle. | Honestly, there is a reason my dad calls this place bullshit castle. |
| Gossip in restaurants indeed. *eye roll emoji* | Gossip in restaurants indeed. *eye roll emoji* |
| Mark Butler to Scott Morrison: | Mark Butler to Scott Morrison: |
| The member for North Sydney has said, “The challenge the government faces is that, following the demise of the national energy guarantee, there’s a strong feeling that we don’t have a climate change plan.” But the member for Hughes has said, “To suggest that more people would have voted for Dave Sharma if we had passed some version of the Neg is a fantasy.” Who’s right when it comes to this government’s policy on the national energy guarantee? | The member for North Sydney has said, “The challenge the government faces is that, following the demise of the national energy guarantee, there’s a strong feeling that we don’t have a climate change plan.” But the member for Hughes has said, “To suggest that more people would have voted for Dave Sharma if we had passed some version of the Neg is a fantasy.” Who’s right when it comes to this government’s policy on the national energy guarantee? |
| Morrison: | Morrison: |
| Our government will continue to pursue the plans that have ensured that we’ve met Kyoto 1, that we will meet Kyoto 2, and that we will meet our commitments in 2030 and the targets that have been set throughout the adoption of that policy some years ago – Arena, the CEFC, Snowy 2.0, the Emissions Reduction Fund, which continues to be under review in terms of future support. | Our government will continue to pursue the plans that have ensured that we’ve met Kyoto 1, that we will meet Kyoto 2, and that we will meet our commitments in 2030 and the targets that have been set throughout the adoption of that policy some years ago – Arena, the CEFC, Snowy 2.0, the Emissions Reduction Fund, which continues to be under review in terms of future support. |
| But most of all, what we understand on this side of the house is that common sense and technology are also driving Australia to a lower-emissions outcome. | But most of all, what we understand on this side of the house is that common sense and technology are also driving Australia to a lower-emissions outcome. |
| That is what will enable us to achieve those outcomes into the future. Not by jacking up people’s power prices, as those opposite wish to do, with reckless targets which will see a burden placed on households, on pensioners, on small businesses, of greater than the carbon tax they inflicted when they were last in government. | That is what will enable us to achieve those outcomes into the future. Not by jacking up people’s power prices, as those opposite wish to do, with reckless targets which will see a burden placed on households, on pensioners, on small businesses, of greater than the carbon tax they inflicted when they were last in government. |
| Our policies are about reducing electricity prices. Our policies are achieving the emissions reduction targets, emissions reduction which has given us the lowest emissions per capita in 28 years. | Our policies are about reducing electricity prices. Our policies are achieving the emissions reduction targets, emissions reduction which has given us the lowest emissions per capita in 28 years. |
| So we’re getting on with the job, Mr Speaker. We’re focusing on the issues that matter to Australians, which is equally, Mr Speaker, getting their electricity prices down and meeting our obligations to the environment. | So we’re getting on with the job, Mr Speaker. We’re focusing on the issues that matter to Australians, which is equally, Mr Speaker, getting their electricity prices down and meeting our obligations to the environment. |
| What are we getting from the Labor party? Questions about gossip in restaurants, Mr Speaker. That’s what they’ve been reduced to as an opposition. It doesn’t get more in the bubble than that. | What are we getting from the Labor party? Questions about gossip in restaurants, Mr Speaker. That’s what they’ve been reduced to as an opposition. It doesn’t get more in the bubble than that. |
| I just spat out my tea. Insulting our Pacific neighbours, who are the most worried about climate change and have been lobbying Australia about what it is going to do, those same Pacific neighbours we have restored aid and attention to, because we are so worried about China’s soft power influence, is now GOSSIP IN RESTAURANTS. | I just spat out my tea. Insulting our Pacific neighbours, who are the most worried about climate change and have been lobbying Australia about what it is going to do, those same Pacific neighbours we have restored aid and attention to, because we are so worried about China’s soft power influence, is now GOSSIP IN RESTAURANTS. |
| Anne Aly has the next question to Melissa Price: | Anne Aly has the next question to Melissa Price: |
| Last week, the minister managed to insult all of Australia’s Pacific neighbours at the same time, as well as twice misleading the parliament. Does this minister take any responsibility for her stumbles, and for the role she played in the government’s devastating performance on the weekend? | Last week, the minister managed to insult all of Australia’s Pacific neighbours at the same time, as well as twice misleading the parliament. Does this minister take any responsibility for her stumbles, and for the role she played in the government’s devastating performance on the weekend? |
| Price: | Price: |
| As I said in the house last week, and I’ve repeated numerous times, I did not mislead parliament. I did not ... I’m asked a question, I’m now responding to the member for Cowan. | As I said in the house last week, and I’ve repeated numerous times, I did not mislead parliament. I did not ... I’m asked a question, I’m now responding to the member for Cowan. |
| I did not mislead parliament. The way that the conversation was reported in the media was inaccurate. It was inaccurate. But the question, Mr Speaker, you have to ask yourself – why does the Labor party continue with this line of questioning? | I did not mislead parliament. The way that the conversation was reported in the media was inaccurate. It was inaccurate. But the question, Mr Speaker, you have to ask yourself – why does the Labor party continue with this line of questioning? |
| Why do they do that? It’s because it’s a distraction. You know that we, on this side, have actually got the economy humming. | Why do they do that? It’s because it’s a distraction. You know that we, on this side, have actually got the economy humming. |
| You know that the Australians are watching us, and that they know that we have everything under control from an economy perspective. We know about all the fabulous things that are going on in our economy. We know – there’s a ‘hear, hear’. We now know, since 2013, we’ve now created one million jobs. | You know that the Australians are watching us, and that they know that we have everything under control from an economy perspective. We know about all the fabulous things that are going on in our economy. We know – there’s a ‘hear, hear’. We now know, since 2013, we’ve now created one million jobs. |
| That’s something to celebrate. Australians also know that we’ve got the unemployment rate down to 5%. They’re pretty happy about that too, prime minister. They know that we’re looking after the small- to medium-sized businesses and we’ve cut their taxes. They also know that we’ve now got a very sensible GST solution. And I would have thought the member for Cowan would be cheering that on for Western Australia. Cause I’m pretty happy about that. Are you happy about that? | That’s something to celebrate. Australians also know that we’ve got the unemployment rate down to 5%. They’re pretty happy about that too, prime minister. They know that we’re looking after the small- to medium-sized businesses and we’ve cut their taxes. They also know that we’ve now got a very sensible GST solution. And I would have thought the member for Cowan would be cheering that on for Western Australia. Cause I’m pretty happy about that. Are you happy about that? |
| Just a couple of points – the conversation, as first reported by David Crowe, was backed by a witness who put his name to the record. Also, when Price rang Anote Tong to apologise, he said to move on, not that it was wrong. | Just a couple of points – the conversation, as first reported by David Crowe, was backed by a witness who put his name to the record. Also, when Price rang Anote Tong to apologise, he said to move on, not that it was wrong. |
| And if all those things were so fantastic, why on earth did the Coalition need to change leaders? | And if all those things were so fantastic, why on earth did the Coalition need to change leaders? |