Bill - SEC Cognate Debate

BILL

‘SEC COGNATE DEBATE’.

Tuesday, 5 March 2024.

James NEWBURY (Brighton) (13:30):

I rise to speak on the Constitution Amendment (SEC) Bill 2023 and State Electricity Commission Amendment Bill 2023 as a cognate debate.

Before speaking about the matters of the Bills it is important to talk about how we got here and the background to that matter. This afternoon this Parliament will be dealing with these Bills in a cognate fashion, which means that the Government moved a motion which requires that the Bills be debated together – the Bills have to be debated at the same time. When they moved that motion, what the Government said was that we must debate those Bills together because there is no other way. There is no other way than they be debated together. The Government advised me that at 5 o’clock we will divide on one of those Bills and then we will debate one of them separately. Let me say that again so the Chamber understands: ‘These bills must be debated together,’ the government said. I have not gone back to get the Leader of the House’s contribution on this debate. I have not gone back to read those comments back into Hansard, the need that these Bills could not be debated separately, but after 5 o’clock they will. So, they will be – they must be – debated cognately.

Danny O’Brien interjected.

James NEWBURY: They have to be; there is no other way – except after 5 o’clock today. That is what political expediency is about. We know because the Greens belled the cat during their debate on the Government Business Program just earlier today when they said that the vote on the Bill this afternoon is happening because it is happening at the right time to ensure, in my view, that the Members are here to reach their required 53 votes on the Bill. This is outrageous. It is outrageous that the Government has played such pathetic games with this Bill.

Only last year the Government said the Bills had to be dealt with last year. They put it on the Government Business Program. They sent the Government Business Program to the world at large and then pulled the Bills. They did not want to debate the Bills they said must be debated – how embarrassing for the Minister. And why didn’t the Government want to deal with it – because they could not get their Members in to this place for a vote. How extraordinary! How extraordinary it is that the Government could not manage its own numbers to get its own Members here for a vote so they pulled the Bills – how embarrassing.

After 100 days – it has been almost 110 days since the Government introduced the Bills – we have had a third issue, and that is that the Minister has refused to provide a briefing on those Bills for over 100 days. To give the Government some credit –

Danny O’Brien interjected.

James NEWBURY: I will; I will give the Government some credit – most Ministers, in fact I would go so far as to say almost all Ministers, accept that it is only reasonable for an Opposition and Victorians more broadly to be provided with an opportunity for a briefing on a Bill. It is not unreasonable; in fact, it is a healthy part of democracy because it is not just the Opposition who is briefed, it is industry, it is key stakeholders and it is the community that have raised concerns through the Opposition. That briefing provides an opportunity to deal with those matters raised. But, sadly, this Minister does not. This Minister refused to allow the Opposition to have a briefing. In fact, she refused when her own Department came to the Opposition and said they wanted to hold one. Can you believe it?

The Department said to the Opposition they stood ready to do it – direct quote – but the Minister said no. After pushing with the Premier directly and after pushing with the Leader of the House, the Government provided a Bill briefing yesterday afternoon. Guess how many Department officials were there to assist with that Bill briefing? To answer important questions, how many do you think were there?

Danny O’Brien interjected.

James NEWBURY: There was less than one – zero. The Government – well, the Minister – would not allow the Department to show up. I have never seen that before.

I have never seen a circumstance where the Department was gagged from attending a Bill briefing. I mean, does it surprise any of us to see that there are no Department officers here today. For most Bills you will have a Department officer here. In fact, I think that that is also a precedent. If I can say to the readers of Hansard, there are currently no Department officers sitting in the Parliament, just like there were no Department officers at the Bill briefing yesterday. It is an outrageous bungling of this Bill, and that the Government said that we must debate this Bill cognately and now we will split the Bills after debating half of them, leaving the other Bill to be debated separately, just shows the absolute sham that it is.

What the Coalition is for is reliable, secure energy, affordable energy and adequate baseload power. That is what this side of the house is for. What these Bills do is none of those things, and we know it. The only thing the Minister has managed to do with the SEC is buy a lot of jellybeans. It is not producing a single ounce of energy. It is not reducing a single cost to the consumer; in fact, it is going up at a rapid rate of knots. But the Minister has bought a lot of jellybeans –

David Southwick: Yo-yos.

James NEWBURY: and yo-yos. I forgot the yo-yos, Member for Caulfield, that is right. I personally have never been given one of the Minister’s yo-yos, and I am sure the Minister spends quite some time in the afternoon playing with yo-yos in her office.

What this Bill does is none of those things. It does not provide secure, reliable energy. It does not supply affordable energy. It does not supply baseload power. So, what the coalition will be doing is moving an Amendment, which I ask to be circulated in my name.

Amendment circulated under standing orders.

James NEWBURY: Part of that Amendment is to ensure that we have transparency around what this Government is doing, because at this stage all we have seen is a whole heap of yo-yos and jellybeans being bought. In fact, the Government did not even manage to provide an Annual Report on the SEC this year. It did not provide an annual report on time, and we know it was caught out for doing that. So, what the Opposition will be doing is moving an Amendment on annual reporting – it is not unreasonable, like when we were talking about energy targets last sitting week and moving Amendments in that same vein – ensuring there is transparency on what the SEC is doing.

What we know, because it has been publicly stated, is that the Government will be on an even playing field when it comes to the SEC’s activity in the market – competitive neutrality. And what does that mean in terms of ensuring that we have those things that the Coalition stands strongly for – well, if you go to the Grattan Institute, the model doesn’t stack up logically, said Tony Wood:

It’s supposed to be there to be doing something that the private sector isn’t doing. But if they’re going to operate on a competitively neutral basis, I don’t see how it can compete in what’s probably the most cutthroat part of the industry.

RMIT professor David Hayward said that the state:

… was going to wean itself off the privatised and marketised national energy market …

It has ended up as something far more modest that will support the badly flawed existing system and not replace it …

The new SECV will do nothing to fix this mess, and, sadly, it is now clear it is not intended to do so.

An Australian Industry Group director said that:

Versus what people imagine a government-owned corporation could do, this thing is going to be much greyer and more sober. This is not the second coming of the 1918 SEC, and it’s not even a restoration of the 1992 SEC.

These words are damning. They expose why the Government is ramming the Bill through this place. They expose why. The Government does not want to be exposed for going to an election with a pledge to get the SEC through last year and not doing it. The government do not want to be exposed for committing to majority stakes in renewable energy projects, which we know they have not done. They have invested in a project that was going to be built anyway. Talk about breaching promises one after another. But what is one of the most dangerous parts of the government’s energy plan? It is not just the way the SEC will operate and not deliver those things that we require and call for. It is the impact of their dangerous gas ban, and that is being exposed for what it is.

If we turn to the president of the Gas Appliance Manufacturers Association of Australia, Ross Jamieson, we know that the government’s ban will result in a loss of more than 1300 jobs – 1300 jobs lost, which should concern all of us – within six to 12 months in an industry that supports 4000 direct jobs. As Ross Jamieson said:

The Victorian government is chasing an ideological outcome to achieve the electrification agenda at all costs. It removes the rights of Victorian families to choose the appliance that provides the required heat for their needs in their situation …

Hear, hear. As we know, 60 per cent of gas appliances sold in Australia are made in Australia, and 95 per cent of electric appliances are imported. So much for a Labor Government supporting manufacturing.

I turn to the Chief Executive of the Australian Gas Infrastructure Group, Craig de Laine, and his comments following the recent largest blackout in Victorian history, where 530,000 people were left without power, which just goes to show the government has no idea how to provide secure energy. He said that at that time:

… fewer than five of our 1.5 million gas customers were without supply during the … storms.

So as 530,000 homes were without power, there were fewer than five without gas during the storms. Further:

It makes the case for both gas and electricity networks to operate in Victoria into the future …

And doesn’t it just. What is this policy approach doing to consumers and businesses? We know there has been a 25 per cent increase in unaffordability – a 25 per cent increase in costs to consumers. We know that – 25 per cent in the last year. No-one can afford these increases. In fact, anybody in this place would only need to talk to one constituent to have the fact of these increases raised. But also, I should get on the record the increases in costs for businesses. In terms of gas bills, recent analysis showed a 12 per cent national increase average and 31 per cent in Victoria – again, 12 per cent nationally and 31 per cent in Victoria. On electricity – this is for businesses – it was 8 per cent nationally but 17 per cent in Victoria. Is there any wonder the recent ABS stats showed a net decrease of 7606 businesses in Victoria? This is not the state to do business, with this Labor Government attacking you on every front. When it comes to your input costs, when it comes to taxes, we know that is the case.

I have spoken previously about the Government’s lack of capacity when it comes to transmission and ensuring security through a network, and I note the government has introduced a bill today which we have not had an opportunity to see. I am sure that that is an attempted political fix to try and take away from the fact that the community is concerned about the Government not providing that security to people’s homes as they should do, as they are required to do and as every Victorian would expect them to do.

I will not go for my full allotted time, because unfortunately the Government is ramming one of the Bills through within 2 hours and the second Bill within 4 hours, and most of the Members on this side of the place would like an opportunity to speak on them. That should not take anything away from my passion on Labor’s mismanagement of energy supply.

The Coalition does not support the Government. We do not support the Government because we are for secure, reliable energy. That is what we are for. We are for secure, reliable energy, we are for affordable energy, and we are for adequate baseload power.

This Government is for stunts, this Government is for jellybeans and this Government is for yo-yos, and it has done nothing meaningful, as every single measure shows: security is down – 530,000 people without power – and affordability is 25 per cent up, and we know there are very, very serious concerns about baseload power into the future. The Coalition does not support the Government, and I know that the members on my side of the place look forward to debating this Bill and this sham that the Government has brought to this Chamber.