Treasurer confirms energy price relief won’t be immediate

As Australians continue to struggle with the rising cost of living, the Treasurer has confirmed price relief may take longer than you think.

Australians hoping a deal between federal and state leaders would slash power prices for Christmas could be disappointed after the Treasurer conceded relief might not flow until mid-next year.

The federal government is hopeful it can broker a deal on the energy crisis after it asked the states to cap the price of coal at less than half the market price.

But on Thursday morning, Jim Chalmers confirmed leaders had yet to reach an agreement ahead of Friday’s virtual meeting of national cabinet.

“This is a challenge of such complexity and of such consequence for industry and for Australians around the country that it needs to be a genuine partnership between governments,” he told ABC’s RN.

The issue of compensation for lost coal royalties, which have skyrocketed due to the Ukraine war, has proved a sticking point for Queensland and NSW.

Jim Chalmers confirmed a deal had yet to be reached. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Damian Shaw

Dr Chalmers said the federal government was prepared to offer a “reasonable” compromise but warned the budget wasn’t a bottomless pit.

“It needs to be a genuine partnership between governments and that requires all sides to come to the table in a reasonable and a constructive way, which recognises that one level of government can’t fix this all on its own,” he said.

While Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has asked the states to put the price cap on coal, he has assured that Canberra will impose the mandatory code of conduct on the gas industry to cap prices at around $13 a gigajoule.

The federal budget has forecasted a 56 per cent increase in electricity prices, and 44 per cent hike in gas prices, for households over the next two years.

Electricity prices were forecast to soar by 56 per cent over the next two years. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

Dr Chalmers conceded any government intervention would not result in an immediate cost relief, indicating Australians may not see a change in their energy bills until mid-next year.

“What we are trying to do here is to take the edge off those price rises. There's not a policy currently before us which would see immediate cutting of these bills, but we do want to try and slow the pace of these increases,” he said.

“Some of these increases … that were contained in my budget were already flowing. These were the increases that (former energy minister) Angus Taylor hid from the Australian people in the election campaign.”

Energy Minister Chris Bowen will meet with his state and territory counterparts on Thursday in Brisbane to discuss long-term strategies to drive down prices.

The group is set to decide on a model for a capacity mechanism to guarantee supply while not undermining emissions targets, which Mr Bowen said had been put in the “too-hard basket” for too long.

Originally published as Treasurer confirms energy price relief won’t be immediate