Hansard debates

Ms SHEED (Shepparton) (09:50:22) — For some time now electricity prices have been steadily growing, and I am hearing widely throughout my community that this is causing distress. While Victoria has initiated its own ambitious targets for renewable energy and energy security, at a commonwealth level years of political infighting and public posturing have left us with an absence of any long-term framework to support industry and consumers. The policy vacuum means businesses who want to invest in renewable energies will not, because making a 15-year business decision on a moving feast of political whims does not make sense.

Rising costs are seriously affecting families, and as I go about my community I am hearing from people and having people come into my office who are facing cut-offs of electricity in their homes. In a country such as Australia this is an indignity that should not happen to people.

A framework for renewable energy is now on the table in the form of the National Energy Guarantee (NEG). Businesses need this security and the sustainable development for our communities, and that financial relief that is supposed to come with the NEG is desperately needed. While the NEG in its current form may not fulfil everyone's ideals of a perfect system, there are worse positions to come from than the middle ground. Feedback from my community suggests that this is finally a way forward, and there is a keen desire to see us just get on with it. Governments are meeting tomorrow, and I would urge the government to put politics aside and make a decision.