Press conference, Smithfield, Sydney

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, thanks for coming, everyone. Last year, faced with skyrocketing energy prices and skyrocketing energy profits, the Albanese Government was faced with a choice: to let Australians pay those skyrocketing prices caused by the invasion of Ukrainian by Vladimir Putin and to see those profits continue up and up or to act. Acting was controversial. Not everybody agreed. Companies affected didn’t always agree. The Opposition was against us strongly. Today, figures released show that that intervention, while we still have some way to go, we still have more work to do, is having an impact. The forward prices for wholesale energy in Australia are down significantly from when we acted last year. We always said – 

Just a bit of a wedding going on across the road so we will just let that – or something like that. A bit of activity. We can continue now.

We always said that the intention of our intervention was to see the edge taken off these power price increases. Australians know that power prices are going up around the world and they’re realistic about what can be done about it, but they also correctly expect their Government and their Parliament to act. So, to see those wholesale prices come down between 30 and 40 per cent, up to 44 per cent in Queensland, is a good step forward. There’s more to do but this is a good step forward. We welcome the impact of this intervention and we know that Australians realise there is more yet to be done – more yet to be done in terms of energy relief, more yet to be in terms of ensuring that the cheapest form of energy is introduced more and more into our system and, of course, that is renewable energy.

Now, there’s a couple of questions, of course, for Mr Dutton and the Liberal Party. They were against this intervention. They opposed it all the way. They were complaining about it as late as yesterday. Would they prefer wholesale prices to be 44 per cent higher? Would they have just stood by and watched Australian businesses pay these increases and Australian households pay these increases? Do they think it’s okay that gas and coal prices could just go up and up and up and profits would be up and Australians would be paying the price? The answer to that based on their answers and their rhetoric is yes. They oppose this package. They oppose it yet today. They are not on the side of Australians dealing with higher power prices. They are on the side of higher prices and higher profits.

Happy to take questions. We’ll start here in Smithfield and then go to the phone.

JOURNALIST: How can consumers trust these numbers when power bills are still going up?

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, what we’re seeing at the moment is the impact, of course, of the increase which Angus Taylor hid before the election, an increase which we predicted at Budget time. We said that, for example, gas prices will go up 20 per cent and then 20 per cent again, and we said we can reduce the first increase to 18 per cent and the second increase to four per cent. And we always said that this would take some time to flow through. And I think Australians know that. Australians understand that when you’ve got power prices up right around the world, no intervention is going to act immediately the next day. But we are seeing the intervention have an impact on prices at the wholesale level and, importantly, retailers are buying energy now for 2023 and they’re paying these prices which are lower than they otherwise would have been.

JOURNALIST: These decreases are off astronomical increases in wholesale prices. Can consumers ever expect to get back to pre-war prices; and, if so, when?

CHRIS BOWEN: Look, obviously, this war in Ukraine is continuing and there’s no end in sight, and that is going to continue to play a role. Obviously, we want this war to end and we want Ukraine to be free and living in peace. That is very important to us. In the meantime, we’ll get on with the job of delivering the cheapest form of energy, renewable energy; of ensuring that the energy relief is negotiated with the States, and the Treasurer has that well in hand. These are the sorts of things we will do to ensure that relief flows to Australians.

JOURNALIST: Your $230 figure released today is how much of an increase?

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, what we said was $230 reduced from what it would have been otherwise was the analysis we released last year.

JOURNALIST: The Opposition says it’s just spin. What’s your response?

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, the Opposition needs to come up with their plan. I mean, what is Peter Dutton’s plan to take the power price increases – the edge off them? He opposed this all the way. He opposed it in both houses of Parliament. He opposed it with every ounce of energy he could muster. He was out this week opposing it. The Shadow Minister has been out opposing it. What’s their plan? Their plan is higher power prices. That is what their plan is. They’ve come to the table with absolutely nothing, other than defending wartime profits for gas companies.

JOURNALIST: Lastly, how long will you keep these price cuts in place and, given you say they’ve worked, will you take them off earlier than legislated?

CHRIS BOWEN: No, we’ve legislated the gas price cap for 12 months and that gets replaced by the code of conduct going forward, of course. That’s important. And that’s the timetable that we announced and we’ll stick to. Okay. Happy to go to the phone.

JOURNALIST: Hi, Minister. Stephanie from the ABC. The Treasury figures that you’ve released today mark 21 December. How can you say that that is a drop due to the price cap given that didn’t come in until 23 December?

CHRIS BOWEN: No, this is the latest figures that we’ve announced today, the latest figures that we have available.

JOURNALIST: They’re from 21 December when the drop was [indistinct]?

CHRIS BOWEN: No, the figures we released today reflect the impact of our intervention and they have changed on several occasions since we intervened. These are the latest figures that we have released.

JOURNALIST: Minister, the data that we have got in front of us from Treasury does show that the price [indistinct] that you’re talking about are between 30 November 2022 and 23 December 2022.

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, as I said, these are the figures which – all the Treasury advice to us is a result of primarily the impact of our intervention, not just our intervention, but primarily our intervention.

Any other questions on the phone?

JOURNALIST: Just on the 230 reduction, I know that that will have to come [indistinct] 2023–24. Can you give us an idea of months – whether that’s towards the end of next year or the following year?

CHRIS BOWEN: I think the next key indicator will be the release by the Australian Energy Regulator of the draft Default Market Offer in February. This is, of course, what Angus Taylor intervened to hide pre election. I will not be intervening to hide it. It will be released on schedule during February. That will be a draft and then the final will come out after that in May. That will reflect the next increases for Australians and that will reflect the intervention of the Albanese Government and those increases being lower than they otherwise would have been. And that will then flow through from May onwards.

JOURNALIST: Minister, Reece here from Nine. I’m just wondering if that’s the case and if retailers are buying electricity now at lower wholesale prices, does that mean that consumers should brace for higher power bills at least for the next, say, six months before these lower wholesale prices start to come off? Should we be bracing for it to get worse before it gets better?

CHRIS BOWEN: Oh, I think, Reece, Australia should expect what we said when we intervened – that the increases would be less than they otherwise would have been, that it would take some time to flow through, but we will see the impact of the Albanese Government’s intervention in the February draft DMO and in the final DMO in May. These are the next increases that Australians would face and you’ll see the impact of our intervention in those two documents, which will then flow through for the rest of the year.

JOURNALIST: Just stay on the line while the journo on the ground asks a question, please.

CHRIS BOWEN: She already has, yes.

JOURNALIST: I’m late, sorry.

CHRIS BOWEN: You’re right, all good. Okay.  All done? Thanks, team. Thanks, guys.