(Photo: Supplied)
August 27, 2018
A coalition of community, farming and welfare groups has called on politicians to start “walking the walk” on electricity prices.
A joint statement from the group – which consists of the National Farmers Federation, the Australian Council of Social Service, Bundaberg Regional Irrigators Group, Canegrowers, Consumer Action Law Centre, National Irrigators Council, NSW Farmers’ Association, Public Interest Advocacy Centre, Queensland Farmers’ Federation and the St Vincent de Paul Society (Victoria) – said State and Federal governments must be held accountable on achieving price reductions for reliable electricity supply.
“The cost of electricity used to be a source of competitive advantage for Australian industries, now our electricity costs are among the highest in the OECD,” the statement said.
“This is harming our international competitiveness and economy, providing poor outcomes for consumers, and disproportionately and negatively impacting vulnerable consumers and communities.
“These conditions are clearly unacceptable.”
The group said the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) released a report in June with 56 recommendations that, if implemented, would reduce electricity prices by at least 20-25 per cent Australia-wide by 2020-21.
It was now up to State and Federal governments to accept and implement those recommendations.
The group is seeking that all levels of government commit to:
- Implementing the ACCC recommendations that will achieve a minimum 20 per cent average electricity price reduction within the next four years;
- Establishing annual targets on achieving this price reduction target so the public can hold government to account; and
- Ongoing consultation with industry and consumer groups on the design and implementation of the ACCC recommendations.
“Over the past decade, there has been a myriad of government reviews on the energy sector that has yielded very little tangible outcomes, with electricity prices doubling for most consumers,” the joint statement said.
“All levels of government will be held accountable by the Group if ACCC recommendations are not implemented, and there is a failure to achieve the very conservative target of a 20 per cent electricity price reduction within four years.
“There is no more room for political manoeuvring or passing the buck.”
Queensland Farmers’ Federation CEO Travis Tobin said Queensland electricity networks were achieving 3-4 times the annual profit margins of comparable energy companies.
“For every dollar that Queensland energy consumers paid for network charges over the past three years, the Queensland Government collected 47 cents in profits.
“Despite those extraordinary returns, successive Queensland Governments have consistently extracted more profits from the networks than they create,” he said.
“And despite Queensland’s transmission and distribution networks being 100 per cent government-owned with no private competition, the Queensland Government charges them competitive neutrality fees to ensure they do not have a competitive advantage which are then passed on to the consumer.”
