Libs home in on small business for power bill election
Dominic Giannini |
Aspirational Australians are at the heart of Peter Dutton’s pitch as he launches his election campaign around giving battlers a fair go.
The opposition leader was off to a rocky start on the first full day of campaigning, with two events interrupted by climate activists chastising him about his gas and nuclear policies before being forcibly removed.
But Mr Dutton is looking to get back on track on Sunday as he tries to appeal to small business owners and people in outer suburbs struggling to make ends meet.
His camp is set to start the day in Brisbane as the coalition works to win back inner-city seats from the Greens and go on the attack in the outer suburbs where the cost of living is biting harder.
At the centre of his cost-of-living pitch is cheaper electricity bills through a proposal to pump more gas into the energy grid.
Two of three campaign events around Brisbane on Saturday focused on businesses.
The first at the XXXX brewery and the second at a supporters’ lunch where he chastised the level of insolvencies under Labor.
“There is a sliding door for Australians as they head to the polls,” he said.
“It’s a choice for Australia to decide who can deliver a sustainable energy system that will see prices come down.”
His main attack stems from a Labor promise at the 2022 election that power bills would come down $275 if elected.
A dramatic increase in some power bills forced the government to put in place two rounds of rebates to cauterise the hikes.
Labor argues international factors outside its control such as the war in Ukraine and a volatile global economy fuelled inflation and power prices.
It has also pointed to its plan to supercharge renewable energy investment in measures such as wind and solar, which Australia has in abundance, to bring down power bills as well as carbon emissions.
But Mr Dutton remains locked in on the broken promise to differentiate energy policies.
“How could you believe anything the prime minister or the treasurer says in this election campaign?” he said.
But despite promising prices would ease by the end of 2025, Mr Dutton remains coy on how much or what modelling backs his claim.
Although he pledged to release modelling before polling day that he said showed prices would decrease under his plan.
AAP
