Electricity price rises can't continue

From: Julia Gillard
Sent: Tuesday, August 07, 2012 4:09 PM
Subject: Electricity price rises can't continue

Today I delivered a major speech about electricity prices, to the Energy Policy Institute of Australia, in Sydney.

This has become one of the major cost of living pressures.

Indeed, power bills have become the new petrol prices - not just an essential of life that always seems to be going up, but a vital commodity. And what we consume each day, or pay every quarter, seems far beyond our control.

Prices have gone up – they’ve gone up far and fast.

Australia did not need power price increases of around fifty per cent over the last four years – and households can’t afford the same kinds of increases over the next four years.

Those price rises can’t continue.  They are a threat to the economy. They are a threat to fairness in our society.

Solving these kinds of problems for ordinary Australians is exactly the kind of thing Labor Governments are elected to do.

The plain facts are that for too long, some State Governments have been increasing their revenue at the expense of the family electricity bill.

Today I’ve said that massive prices rises have to stop.

To make that happen, I’ve written to the Premiers and Chief Ministers to say that I want solutions on the table for the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) to adopt – by the end of the year.

Julia

PS. These energy price rises are well above the cost of the introduction of the carbon price and taking action on climate change. 9c of every dollar in an electricity bill is for the carbon price – and that’s fully compensated – while 51c is for the poles and wires.