Wednesday, 22 June 2022

Energy policy

Mr QUILTY (Northern Victoria) (17:51): (2008) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change. The Victorian energy upgrades scheme is a government program where the government gives credits to companies when they install energy-efficient electronics. The government then forces energy retailers to buy these credits with cash. That financial cost is then passed on to consumers in their electricity bills. For example, a company will buy a light bulb, pay someone to install it in your home and receive a credit for the supposed energy saving. They sell that credit and make a profit. The energy company is forced to buy the credit and charges its customers to make up the loss. Essentially, anyone paying an electricity bill is being forced to buy high-quality electronics for other people. This is how the scheme is meant to work. The Liberal Democrats do not support this scheme, because it creates an enormous number of problems and there is little evidence that it works.

The government has been so generous with awarding credits that instead of just offering discounts on fridges, companies have been buying fridges in bulk and giving them away. Either there is no requirement that these energy-efficient appliances replace less efficient ones or the requirement was never enforced. Many of the businesses receiving these fridges have no food or drink on their premises and no need for a fridge. We have heard stories of people getting three or four fridges and new fridges going straight for sale on Gumtree and eBay. The fridge problem got so bad that at one point this year half the energy credits awarded related to fridges. Apparently the problem is the way the credit for fridges is calculated. The government messed up the figures, which resulted in too many credits being awarded. Now, the government has responded by halving the number of credits received from fridges—not recalculating the amount based on some objective reason; they have just picked an arbitrary reduction and are hoping that works. What we are finding out here is the government has no idea how much energy is saved and how that relates to carbon emission reductions. The calculation was never based on benefits, outcomes or costs. It is just giving away money and hoping there are benefits in the future.

The Victorian energy upgrades scheme forces almost everyone to pay an arbitrary amount of money for electronics for others in the vague hope that it might do something good to reduce carbon emissions. That is not good enough. It is a waste of taxpayer money, and the benefit is not being demonstrated. As energy costs rise, consumers will move to replacing their own goods with more energy efficient ones. They do not need subsidies and schemes to push them along. I call on the minister to scrap the Victorian energy upgrades scheme and put an end to the free fridges.