Interview with David Koch, Seven's Sunrise

DAVID KOCH: And I think we've got the Energy Minister now, Chris Bowen. Chris Bowen, appreciate your time. Look, is it fair enough that the State Governments want compensation for this? That's a big gap, $400 atop for thermal coal down to a $150 cap.

CHRIS BOWEN: Morning Kochie. Well, the Commonwealth, the Federal Government and the States need to work together to solve this problem for Australian industries and households. That's our job and that's what's happening. To be fair, I've read a lot of the speculation about what States are saying and what the Albanese Government's saying and a lot of it just hasn't been right in the newspapers, but I just ignore all that and get on with the job. I just get on with the job, as the Prime Minister does, of talking to our colleagues. And those conversations happen in good faith. I mean, every state government and the Commonwealth Government does not want to see Australian industry at threat, under threat because of high energy prices. It's not the fault of Australian workers in big business, in big industries that Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine and that every country in the world is dealing with hugely impacted increases in coal and gas. That's not their fault and it shouldn't flow through to them without governments acting. And that's what we've been talking to Dominic Perrottet and Annastasia and my state colleagues about for the last week. And we'll continue to do that in the lead up to the important meeting tomorrow.

DAVID KOCH: Okay, so a cap on coal, also a cap on gas, you're going to put as well?

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, I'm not here to announce the package today, Kochie, but I will say we need to deal with it all. You can't just deal with one impact. Coal and gas are both important in our energy system. There's no point just dealing with half the problem. Coal and gas, as you understand, in the energy market, set the price at various points. You've got to deal with both. We have various different powers. The Commonwealth's got some good powers, the States have some good powers. What we've done is looked at all the powers we have under our respective constitutions and thought, well, what's the most effective way here? We've got some powers; we should use those. The States have got some powers, we can talk to them about using those. And that's what's happening.

DAVID KOCH: So, the cap goes through after the meeting tomorrow. How quickly will that flow through into our power bills? 

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, what we're looking to do is, as you know, in the budget we were upfront with Australians about what pressures were coming next year. We have processes where increases get announced as a draft in February and then a final in May, the sort of draft default offers that come out. We're working hard to make sure that those are as low as possible. Obviously, we are dealing with a very difficult situation where coal and gas are way more expensive than they were in December. That's happening around the world. That's happening around the world. All governments are acting and responding. We're no different. And in Australia's case, of course we're a federation with different powers, we're talking to our friends in the State Government. I've got an Energy Ministers meeting today, which is important, but we'll be talking about how we get more renewable energy on faster in a more dispatchable way, and we'll be helping our Prime Minister and Premiers as well. 

DAVID KOCH: Relief still a couple of months away, but while we've got you, difficult day for many Australians seeing this man walk free from prison after serving just over half of his sentence. The Bali Bomber. What's your reaction to this? Served twelve years of 20 and it cost so many Australian lives. 

CHRIS BOWEN: I think my reaction would be the same as almost every Australian, you know, horror and disappointment that he's being released. We are interacting and talking to the Indonesian Government about this. I do understand, we understand Indonesia's legal system is different to ours and we have to respect that. But at the same time, we also have to make strong representations to the Indonesian Government to ensure, particularly if he's going to be released, that all the necessary protections and monitoring are in place. This is a terrible man who did terrible things not only to Australians, but to Indonesians as well. Australians and Indonesians both suffered under that terrible bombing, but far too many Australians gave their lives. And just as Australia and Indonesia went through that ordeal together, it's appropriate that Australia makes strong representations to Indonesia and that has happened and will continue to happen. 

DAVID KOCH: Okay, Chris Bowen, appreciate your time. Thank you.