HOUSEHOLDS would be given a modest seven percent fall in their gas bills and three percent cut to their electricity bills, under a coalition’s plan to pump the market with gas to drive down energy costs.
The coalition released the promised modelling into its national gas plan on Tuesday night, which would make companies keep a certain amount of gas in the Australian market.
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Industrial customers are being promised a 15 per cent reduction in retail gas bills, with a forecast eight percent decrease in wholesale electricity prices.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton revealed his gas reservation policy in his budget reply speech last month, and has repeatedly attacked Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for failing to achieve the promise that Labor would cut power bills by $275.
“Our policy will be a game changer because we can then see the cost and therefore price of electricity, construction, food prices and many other goods start to come down,” he said.
“Gas is critical to our nation’s energy future.
“By making the gas companies put more of our Aussie gas into our market instead of exporting it, we will get the price of gas down by 15 percent.”
Frontier Economics managing director Danny Price, who prepared the modelling, said the plan would decouple the domestic price from expensive international rates.
Federal ministers Annika Wells and Clare O’Neil on Wednesday played down the coalition plan, telling Nine’s Today program that the best case scenario was a $1 a week reduction in household energy bills, “maybe”, in two years, if the opposition won government.
The Frontier forecast was published during the first leaders’ debate of the election campaign between Mr Albanese and Mr Dutton, ahead of the May 3 poll.
Mr Albanese was declared the winner of the clash by a group of 100 undecided voters, but one in five still could not make their minds up following the event.
Energy bills, healthcare and broader cost of living pressures were among the most pressing issues for the voters.
Independent senator Jacqui Lambie and her SA upper house candidate and former senator Rex Patrick have pledged if they are returned to parliament they will set up a “wide ranging” parliamentary inquiry into Australia’s relationship with the US.
This would include the ANZUS Treaty and the AUKUS partnership with the US and UK, under which Australia has been promised nuclear-powered submarines.
“We need to ask the hard questions about how to manage relations with a great power that’s unpredictable, aggressively protectionist in trade policy, and self-interested in security relationships,” Senator Lambie said.
“The US is putting America first – it’s time we put Australia first!”
Visit AAP FactCheck’s website to read our assessment of claims made in the election campaign and debate.
By Tess IKONOMOU, AAP