Wednesday, 19 March 2025

 Lily D’AMBROSIO (Mill Park – Minister for Climate Action, Minister for Energy and Resources, Minister for the State Electricity Commission) (14:22): Every day we in this government are focused on helping Victorian families with the cost of living, and our Victorian default offer is doing just that when it comes to power bills. Under the draft VDO that was announced last week the average Victorian household on the default offer will pay $448 per year less than those living in South Australia, New South Wales or Queensland. For small businesses it is an even bigger difference, with small businesses on the VDO paying on average $1583 per year less than small businesses in other states.

337,000 Victorian households and 56,000 small businesses rely on the Victorian default offer. When we brought the VDO in in 2019 to cut power bills we cut standing offer prices by 24 per cent in the first year. Even today default offer prices are still almost 10 per cent below what they were before the VDO. We know there is more work to be done, but our VDO right now is making a big difference compared to other states.

Those Victorians not on the VDO also are paying lower retail power prices than in other states. Our record investments in cheap renewable energy are driving these lower prices and lower bills. It is not the only way we are helping families save on their power bills: we have more and bigger Victorian energy upgrade discounts than ever before, the Solar Homes rebates, the Victorian Energy Compare website and more.

We are continuing to work hard every day finding ways and implementing ways to help households with the cost of living and the supports that we are giving, while Gilligan and his motley crew over there on the Minnow are still on their 3-hour tour of opposition. But Gilligan is actually not holding the wheel, because he is sunbaking on the deck because he has forgotten he is the captain of the ship. That is what we have got from those opposite.

Bridget Vallence: On a point of order, Speaker, former Speaker Brooks’s ruling is quite clear that ministers statements are not an opportunity to attack the opposition purely because the minister has nothing better to say.

The SPEAKER: The minister has concluded her ministers statement.