Wednesday, 2 August 2023

Energy policy

Renee HEATH (Eastern Victoria) (18:29): (360) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Energy and Resources, and the action that I seek is for her to repeal the decision to ban gas in new homes from 2024 onwards. Could energy become a luxury item in Victoria? Because in the midst of an energy crisis this government has decided to cut gas. As we are all aware, as of next year Labor has banned gas connections to new homes. This ban is being touted as a win for the environment. It is not. Less gas means more brown coal. Gas has roughly half the emissions of coal, and this decision will drive up emissions and not reduce them. Electrification only delivers environmental benefits if the electricity generation is clean, and we do not have those resources in this state. Victoria still relies heavily on brown coal fire. We are moving away from that, but it is certainly not going to be cheap, which leads me to the second justification.

The second justification is cost. According to the Victorian Labor government, getting rid of gas will save households $1000 per year on their energy bills – but it will not. Less energy will drive up the prices. Anthony Albanese made a similar claim during his election campaign, saying Labor’s Powering Australia plan will cut bills by $275 per year for a home. Well, not long after that he deleted this promise from his campaign website as electricity prices skyrocketed by 56 per cent following Labor’s wasteful spending agenda, which is driving inflation.

I am going to read from the Seeley International media release that they released recently:

The Victorian Government’s foolish and short-sighted ban on gas in new homes will only push emissions higher and increase the risk of blackouts.

This is yet another policy that Victoria cannot afford, and I ask that you do not push ahead with it.