Doorstop interview at Smithfield, Sydney

MINISTER FOR CLIMATE CHANGE AND ENERGY, CHRIS BOWEN:  Well, on Thursday the Albanese Government will be putting a comprehensive plan to Parliament to shield Australians from the impact on their energy prices of the war in Ukraine. The Parliament has a choice to make: they want higher energy prices next year or do they support action to ensure that prices are affordable for Australians?

The plan being put forward by us deals with the causes of this crisis and deals with the symptoms. It’s a comprehensive plan. It deals with the price of coal and gas, which is what has led to this energy crisis. Right around the world coal and gas are at record prices. As well, we’re putting $1.5 billion on the table working with the states to provide real relief to Australian families. So, if people vote against that package, they are voting against real relief for Australian families.

Now, there’s lots of commentary out there at moment and I understand that. The Opposition’s all over the place. The Opposition this morning is saying they might like to vote for the financial support for families. Well, voting for just one part of the bill is like putting a band aid on a bullet hole – it won’t fix the problem unless it’s part of a broad package, which is exactly what the Government will put to the Parliament and ask the Parliament to vote for.

I also see gas companies out there very active. I understand that gas companies want to maximise their profits. That’s their job. We have a different job. Our job is to protect the Australian people. Gas companies want to protect their profits. We want to protect the Australian people. That’s the essential difference. That’s the difference. Gas companies want high profits at the expense of industries, at the expense of workers in industries.

We will not see Australian industries close at the expense of gas company profits, we just won’t. Gas companies are entitled to protect their profits, but not at the expense of Australian industry and Australian households. Our job is to step in and protect Australian industries and households, and that’s exactly what we will do on Thursday. It’s exactly what we are asking the Parliament to support us in doing on Thursday and I hope and expect that the Parliament will support us in doing that on Thursday.

The Opposition’s all over the place – some Liberal MPs saying they have to vote for the bill; Peter Dutton making his normal sort of strange comments; the Shadow Minister all over the shop. We’re clear and consistent, working with the states, have developed a comprehensive package. We’ll be putting it to the Parliament in terms of the federal involvement on Thursday and we’ll be seeking the Parliament to pass it urgently because the Australian people need help urgently. Happy to take questions.

JOURNALIST: The opposition has slammed the decision to recall Parliament on Thursday as a shockingly bad decision, saying that you had six months to come up with a plan. What’s your response to that? Could this have been avoided and should the Government have come up with this package sooner?

CHRIS BOWEN: The Liberal Party had 10 years to come up with a plan. I mean, we’re partly in this crisis because they mismanaged energy for a decade. We’re partly in this crisis because we had four gigawatts of power leave the system and one gigawatt of power come on. Now, the Opposition has a choice. They can back Australian households and industry on Thursday, or they can keep parroting the talking points of gas companies. That’s what they’ve been doing. If you see what gas companies are saying and Peter Dutton is saying, they’re the same thing. We are on the side of the Australian people and Australian industry. Peter Dutton has got to decide what side he’s on. This is an urgent sitting of Parliament because we’re facing an urgent situation.

JOURNALIST: I want to ask you about compensation for coal producers. There’s been a lot of discussion about this over the last few days since this package was announced. Could you please clarify what the Government will seek to do and whether the Greens do have a reason to be concerned about coal producers getting this money instead of perhaps putting in a windfall tax?

CHRIS BOWEN: Sure. And we’ve had some good discussions with the Greens over the last couple of days and I’m sure those discussions will continue. In relation to what we put to the Parliament, we’ll be putting to Parliament the gas cap and we’ll be putting to Parliament the support for Australian households through our direct support to energy retailers. That’s what we’re asking the Parliament to vote for.

Separately, we’ve asked the New South Wales and Queensland Governments to cap coal prices. There’s a range of mechanisms under which that can occur. The New South Wales government has asked to us ensure that any coal company which has a genuine cost of production over $125 is catered for. We think that is a very, very rare circumstance. They want to ensure supply of coal to their coal fired power stations. We think that’s reasonable. We think that’ll be very, very rare.

In addition, where contracts have already been entered into, we’ll work with generators to ensure that the $125 cap applies even if a contract has already been entered into by ensuring that generator receives support. That is essential because we need to deal with coal and gas together. This is the only comprehensive way of ensuring we cover gas and coal, and we cover coal that is to be contracted, which will be covered by state legislation, as well as coal which has already been contracted.

JOURNALIST: You mentioned negotiations with the Greens have been going pretty well. Can you spill any details on that? What are they asking for?

CHRIS BOWEN: Look, I’m not going to go into details other than to say this Government’s track record is that when we introduce legislation, there’s lots of speculation we won’t get it through. We then work across the Parliament as sensible adults and grown-ups with parties that are willing to engage with us. And the Greens and the cross bench have been willing to engage with us in the past. The Liberal and National Party, by and large, have not, so they count themselves out of the conversation. They make themselves irrelevant. We’ll continue to work in good faith across the Parliament with the cross bench to ensure sensible outcomes. That’s what we did on the climate bill. That’s what we did on industrial relations. That’s what we did -that’s what we do whenever we’re trying to seek support for important legislation. This Government has a very strong track record in our first six months of getting legislation through. We’re seeking to get legislation through on Thursday. We’ll take the same approach as we have, working cooperatively and in good faith across the Parliament to get it done.

JOURNALIST: Just one final one really quickly on Shell, if I can, regarding the fact that they could be suspending their role in a landmark gas supply deal. Have you got a response to that given this seems to be in direct response to the announcement on Friday?

CHRIS BOWEN: Shell is one of the most profitable companies in Australia and we don’t mind them making profits in their gas offshore, their gas exports. They can make as much profit as they want doing that. But Australians have a right to this gas at a fair price and I make this very clear: the government will be acting in the national interests, not in the interests of Shell, not in the interests of any gas company, in the interests of every Australian. We’ll be acting in the interests of Australian households. We’ll be acting in the interests of Australian consumers. We’ll be acting in the interests of Australian industry. Now, Shell’s job is to maximise their profits. That’s not our job. Our job is to protect Australian people. The CEO of Shell can try and protect his profits. We will be protecting the Australian people.

JOURNALIST: Thanks, Minister. That’s all from me.

CHRIS BOWEN: Thank you. Cheers.