Interview with David Lipson, ABC Radio National

DAVID LIPSON: Chris Bowen is the Minister for Energy and Climate Change, and he joins me now. Thanks for being with us. How many households and businesses will see electricity prices come down?

CHRIS BOWEN: So, the draft default market offer being released today by the Energy Regulator is an important moment. Now, the majority of electricity customers aren't on the offer, but it does set the benchmark. It's the cap for those who are on the default market offer for those who have gone down that road. But for everybody else, it sets the benchmark for electricity companies as to how they need to remain competitive. And indeed, electricity companies need to compare their bills and their offers to the default market offer. So, it really does provide that competitive tension. Now, obviously, everyone should acknowledge that the cost-of-living pressures that remain are real and that electricity prices have been a very big part of that cost-of-living pressure in Australia and right around the world. Nevertheless, this is an encouraging sign. It shows that getting more renewables into the system has the positive effect we've been saying it would. It does show international pressure, some of the international pressure coming off. Of course, we pointed to international pressure when prices were going up. And just as equally, international pressure has helped. Our coal and gas caps, which we legislated last year, have played a big role. And also, I and State Ministers asked the Energy Regulator to prioritise the needs of consumers this year and that has reflected-

DAVID LIPSON: Will they see bills come down as consumers?

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, those on the default market offer certainly will in those jurisdictions where the energy regulator has put the figures out today.

DAVID LIPSON: How many?

CHRIS BOWEN: Yes. Well, as I said, majority of customers aren't on the default market offer, but it provides the benchmark for everyone. For every electricity bill. Every electricity bill has basically the competitive pressure, whether you're on the default market offer or not. Electricity companies take this very, very seriously. They put in submissions asking for- Fair enough. That's their job, I suppose, asking for higher increases. They haven't got those increases. We've got reductions today, first time in quite a while. And that is an encouraging sign for Australian consumers and an encouraging sign that the plans that governments across the board, including the federal government, are putting in place are working.

DAVID LIPSON: So, could prices continue to rise in some jurisdictions?

CHRIS BOWEN: There are some very small rises in some jurisdictions compared to what we've had in the past, but the majority of jurisdictions are seeing reductions, particularly for small business, which is encouraging because small business has energy bills as a big part of their bill, particularly if you think about the local milk bar or delicatessen, energy bills are going to play a big role. So, for those in the AusGrid network, big reductions. Those in South Australia, big reductions. So, that's an encouraging sign for those small businesses in particular.

DAVID LIPSON: So, this is welcome news, but when will power bills come down by $275, as the Prime Minister repeatedly promised before the election?

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, of course, that was the result of our modelling for 2025. We're still in 2024-

DAVID LIPSON: So you're committed to that?

CHRIS BOWEN: - and we have more policies to implement and we have more to go. I mean this is, we have a lot more work to do. We have done a lot in the first two years. We have a huge amount left to do when it comes to energy reform, when it comes to rolling out renewables. I'll have more to say in coming weeks about our rollout of renewables in the Capacity Investment Scheme. There's been a huge amount of work going to that. We have a lot, lot more work to do. This is an encouraging signpost, if you like, but it is far from a finishing post.

DAVID LIPSON: You reckon you can get there by 2025?

CHRIS BOWEN: We're not giving up on reducing prices for consumers and nor, David, are we giving up on the fact that renewables are the cheapest form of energy. Nuclear is the most expensive form of energy in the world at the moment. There will be a real choice at the next election between the cheapest form of energy and the most expensive.

DAVID LIPSON: Should Paul Keating meet with the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi later this week?

CHRIS BOWEN: Certainly, if he chooses to. I mean, this is a very important visit by the Chinese Foreign Minister. I think it reflects the efforts of the government and the efforts of the Chinese Government, to be fair, to stabilise relations. There'll be important meetings with serving Government Ministers. It is entirely usual for a visiting Foreign Minister to seek out a former Prime Minister, particularly one who played the role he did in Australia finding security in Asia, not from Asia, as Paul Keating did all those years ago. He's deeply respected across Asia and a meeting of that nature is, I think, singularly unremarkable.

DAVID LIPSON: Chris Bowen. Thank you.

CHRIS BOWEN: Great pleasure.