Australians to get $150 energy bill relief as Albanese seeks to mask price hike pain

Australian households and small businesses will have another $150 wiped from their power bills this year as Labor seeks to mask the pain of rising energy prices ahead of a federal election fight over the future of the country’s electricity grid.

With power prices set to rise by as much as $200 a year in eastern states, the Albanese government will include the $1.8 billion cost-of-living measure in this week’s budget, as Opposition Leader Peter Dutton reminds voters that Labor has failed to bring prices down and blames the government’s renewables rollout for the spike in household bills.

Corridors of power: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (left) and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen and Daniel Kalisz

But Dutton is facing his own troubles, with jittery opposition MPs concerned that the Coalition’s energy offerings aren’t enough to win over voters.

Several are calling for Dutton to unveil a gas policy and more immediate plans to put downward pressure on power bills, given the Coalition’s plan for government-owned nuclear plants does not lower energy prices in the short- or medium-term.

That will make it difficult for Dutton to oppose the latest subsidies – which extend the government’s $75-a-quarter energy bill relief until the end of the year – as he stalls in opinion polls.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese named energy bill relief as a reason Australians should reject the Coalition, given it voted against previous rounds of subsidies.

“We are going to take a further $150 right off your power bill because helping your family budget is our number one priority,” Albanese said in a statement announcing the policy.

“This is another cost-of-living relief measure that my government is delivering for Australians while putting downward pressure on inflation. Peter Dutton opposed the $300 energy bill relief to households.”

Albanese said Dutton’s only plan for energy was a $600 billion nuclear scheme that “he will cut Medicare to pay for”.

The Coalition rejects Labor’s claims it will cut Medicare, and puts a smaller $263 billion price tag on its nuclear plan, but Dutton is under pressure to reveal where the money will come from. He has also committed $12 billion to match Labor’s health pledges while vowing to cut government spending.

Dutton will seek to remind voters of Labor’s broken promise from the last election, when it claimed household power bills would come down by $275. Instead, they have risen by hundreds of dollars.

“The Albanese government’s renewables-only energy policy is destroying the economy, and people know it,” Dutton said on Saturday.

“The independent energy regulator is warning that lights are going to go out, so we’ll have blackouts and brownouts under Labor’s renewables-only policy.”

The Albanese government defends its energy policy, saying ageing coal-fired power stations and a global energy crunch have driven prices higher, but renewables create downward pressure.

Labor was expected to announce another round of energy relief in this week’s budget given its last round of $300 subsidies was due to end in June.

The government indicated a surprise revenue boost had given it room to offer more household relief, but Treasurer Jim Chalmers is forecast to reveal a $26.9 billion deficit in Tuesday’s budget.

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