LIBERALS REFUSED TO ACT ON POSSIBLE ELECTRICITY TAX RORTING

Budget Estimates yesterday confirmed the Abbott-Turnbull Government was asleep at the wheel on possible tax rorting of electricity customers by as much as $400 million per year, until the Australian Energy Regulator took the matter into its own hands and initiated its Review.

In stunning testimony, the Australian Energy Regulator (AER), responsible for administering the tax arrangements through which network businesses charge households for their tax liabilities, admitted:

The Government did not inform the AER that South Australian Energy Minister raised possible rorting in February 2015,

The Government again failed to raise possible rorting with the AER when raised by the Victorian energy Minister in early 2018,

The AER established a working group to investigate possible rorting in August 2017, based on its own initiative and not a decision or direction from Minister Frydenberg,

The AER established its Review to investigate rorting in mid-May, again not as the result of Minister Frydenberg’s initiative, but their own.

This testimony confirms the Turnbull Government’s attitude to possible rorting of energy customers by as much as $400 million per year is no different from their attitude to the Banking Royal Commission; ignore the problem, hope it goes away, and once an investigation has been initiated by someone else, claim the credit.

 

Both the South Australian Government and the Victorian Government warned the Abbott-Turnbull Government about possible rorting, yet Minister Frydenberg and his predecessor did nothing to inform the relevant agency, let alone take action to investigate the claims and ensure customers aren’t being ripped off.

 

Yet when the AER initiated review into possible rorting was announced, Minister Frydenberg has happy to take credit, declaring “The Turnbull government wants to ensure consumers are paying no more for their energy than they have to"

If the Liberal Government was serious about ensuring Australian electricity customers weren’t paying more for their energy than they had to, they would have taken action based on the letter from then South Australian Energy Minister Koutsantonis, in February 2015. Had they done so, they may have saved electricity customers up to $1.2 billion in electricity bills.