GAS PRICES SURGE BECAUSE OF TURNBULL’S FAILED HANDSHAKE

A new report from The McKell Institute lays bare Malcolm Turnbull’s broken promise to halve gas prices in 2017.

According to the report, households in New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria are already paying approximately $151, $175, and $134 more per year on their household electricity bills respectively, as a result of the Turnbull Government’s failure to bring prices down to ACCC recommended levels.

Under a continuation of the Turnbull Government’s policies, and compared to what the ACCC thinks prices should be, by 2019 New South Wales households will be paying on average $434 more on their electricity bills because of the Government’s inability to deliver gas price relief. Queenslanders would be paying $312 more and Victorians would pay $254 more.

Malcolm Turnbull’s handshake deal with gas companies was savaged by his own Department’s Regulatory Impact Statement which warned that it was “likely that this option would result in some users exiting the market, resulting in a loss of jobs and economic output.”

Over summer Qenos announced it would be laying off over 100 workers because they were unable to secure affordable gas, while Incitec Pivot may still be forced to close its manufacturing plant at Gibson Island in Queensland, costing a further 450 jobs.

Households are paying the price, and thousands of manufacturing jobs are on the line, because Malcolm Turnbull refused to do what Labor and his own department told him to and that was to pull the trigger and implement export controls.