Cost of Living
Senator Grogan: I rise today to speak on the recent cost-of-living hearings that I and my colleague from this side of the chamber Senator Stewart participated in. We heard a lot, through those three days, of what Australians already know: inflationary pressures from external global factors and a decade of policy inaction are making household budgets tighter and placing pressure on people in this country who are struggling to afford the basics.
We heard about the effects of wage stagnation and the importance of the Labor government's plan to provide savings for households in the long run. We also heard from industry and the community about various aspects of the Albanese Labor government's policy agenda, which will provide a positive plan to reduce the cost of living. Our comprehensive and proactive policy approach on energy, on climate and on sustainability will reduce cost-of-living pressures, and it will ensure savings for Australian households.
The current cost-of-living crisis reveals the consequences not just of global factors but also of the former government's decade-long neglect of effective climate and energy policy, not to mention their failure on housing. The audacity to try and blame an eight-month-old government for a lack of housing supply is mind-boggling. Housing supply takes a lot longer than eight months. Australian families have been left to deal with this and the consequences of 22 failed energy policies by those opposite. The environment has also been left to suffer by the former government's failure to reduce emissions.
My colleagues and I on this side of the chamber will not leave Australian families behind. We will deliver an ambitious climate and energy policy, we will build the housing of the future and we will ensure that Australia is recognised as a world leader. Our plan will also facilitate a secure and resilient economy to ensure that Australian families are not left to deal with the consequences of this cost-of-living crisis into the future. We will have a plan that is transparent, that is clear and that supports those in need.
Our policy agenda—which includes the Climate Change Bill 2022, which was passed in this chamber last year—puts Australia back on track to net zero for 2050. What does that do? That opens up investment, gives us opportunities and gives us a way forward into the future so we're not left behind as a laggard on the international stage. Our plan also includes a $20 billion investment to upgrade and expand Australia's energy grid, unlocking new renewables, increasing the security of the grid and driving down power prices for Australian households.
I spoke to the Whyalla council this afternoon about the abundance of clean energy and hydrogen opportunities in that region and the significant interest that they are hearing from investors to build that region into a region for the future—to provide more jobs, to provide better, more available housing and to help them build their future in that region. But the opposition continues to oppose investments into renewables, despite the evidence from experts, such as Energy Consumers Australia, the Australian Energy Market Operator and the CSIRO, that renewables are the cheapest form of energy.
At the recent cost-of-living hearings, again, we heard from the Energy Consumers Australia policy director, Jacqueline Crawshaw, who highlighted the need for a balanced approach that addresses both clean energy and affordability. Yet we hear from those opposite that they want to invest in nuclear power, which is evidenced by CSIRO as the most expensive form of power. If we go to the most expensive form of power, we naturally go to the point where we say, 'That's got to be the most expensive when the costs are passed down to householders.' That is not a complicated pathway to follow. If you invest in the most expensive energy, you will get the most expensive power bills. If you invest in cheaper energy—in the energy that we know and that the evidence shows us is cheaper—you will get cheaper power bills. It's not that complicated. The abundance of jobs that we will get with these investments— (Time expired)