Hey Albo, where’s our $275 power bill cut, Coalition MP demands

Shadow energy minister Ted O’Brien is pushing for a cost-of-living strategy as costs around lowering emissions start to bite.

The Coalition has vowed not to let Labor forget its election campaign promise to cut Australians’ power bills by an average of $275 as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese prepared to introduce his climate change bill to parliament.

“If Labor fails, or reneges on its promise, then it risks compromising the way of life of everyday Australians,” shadow climate change minister Ted O’Brien said Tuesday, while also warning the government of doing any deals with “anarchist” Greens.

“I have not seen the bill but the Australian people would expect nothing less than full delivery of Labor’s climate promise at the election to deliver a $275 discount on their household bills.

Mr O’Brien said that while Labor was focused on getting to a 43 per cent emissions reduction by 2030, Labor was hoping people would forget that this goal was just one part of Mr Albanese’s “Powering Australia” platform, unveiled in December 2021.

The other part of the plan was a promise to cut power bills, but Mr O’Brien said that in recent weeks Labor had attempted to walk away from the pledge by citing delays to Snowy Hydro 2.0 and the war in Ukraine.

Federal opposition energy spokesman Ted O'Brien. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen

However the Snowy Hydro 2.0 scheme has been plagued with problems since its inception.

A 2019 report by the Victorian Energy Analysis Centre predicted years worth of delays and found that the project would only produce half the energy it promised.

Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen. Picture: AFP

Likewise, Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine occurred in February but both the attack and its impact on energy markets had been foreshadowed for weeks but neither fact caused the then-Labor Opposition to change course.

Mr O’Brien said that Labor had deliberately avoided talking about the global energy crisis, saying there had been “radio silence” on the subject from the new government.

The Queensland MP also suggested that Labor was vulnerable to charges that it had been tipping he scale to renewables without giving supporting technologies a chance to succeed.

“Labor has indicated they do not respect balance in the system, including the balance of technologies, and if that is reflective of their path to Net Zero they need to explain how they are going to get there.”

Snowy Hydro CEO Paul Broad at the Colongra gas-fired power station. Picture: Adam Yip

“(Climate Change and Energy) Minister Bowen has a long history of demonising gas, and is now dodging questions about how they would bring more gas into the system” to keep power flowing when the sun did not shine and the wind did not blow.

The shadow minister warned the government against being seen to do any deals with “anarchist” Greens to get legislation passed, saying “no matter how far you move towards their position, they jump further.”

However on Tuesday Mr Bowen denied that he had made promises to the Greens regarding his climate legislation, saying, “There’s been good faith discussions with people who are prepared to have them.”