Hinchinbrook MP, Andrew Cripps, says the state election on 25 November was an opportunity for North Queensland energy customers to secure a better deal from a new LNP Government.

Mr Cripps said the Palaszczuk Labor Government had unnecessarily subjected North Queensland energy users to higher energy costs and prices as a result of irresponsible and impractical policies.

“Labor has stripped dividends from publicly owned energy companies, shifted government debt onto those company balance sheets and pursued crazy renewable energy targets” said Mr Cripps.

“The Palaszczuk Government’s policies are driving energy prices up for North Queensland households and businesses and this is really putting pressure on budgets and jobs” he said.

“In contrast, the LNP has released a strong plan to give North Queensland energy consumers a fair go, which is designed to put downward pressure on electricity prices, which we really need”.

Mr Cripps said the LNP’s energy plan included:

• Fast-tracking the approvals for the private sector to build a high efficiency, low emissions coal-fired power station in North Queensland, to address regional supply and security issues as well as creating new jobs and delivering more competition.
• Freezing publicly owned power company executive bonuses until electricity prices decrease, in order to give the company bosses more motivation to deliver savings to North Queensland families and business on their energy bills.
• Scraping Labor’s extreme 50 per cent renewable energy target, which is driving up electricity prices, costing real jobs, complicating investment decisions, increasing taxpayer funded subsidy liabilities and decreasing network reliability.
• Reporting Stanwell to the ACCC for price gouging and ripping off families and businesses – something the Palaszczuk Government has done while stripping out dividends and loading publicly owned energy companies with Labor debt.

“An LNP Government will also move to protect families and businesses by putting consumer representatives on the boards of Queensland’s publicly owned energy network businesses”.

“This move to put consumer representatives on the boards of publicly owned energy companies is about making sure the focus of these businesses is on outcomes for customers and not profits”.

“The LNP’s energy policy focuses on affordability and reliability – in contrast to the Palaszczuk Labor Government, which relies on profits from those businesses to prop up its budgets”.