11 July 2025
E&OE…………………………………………………………………………………………………
Laura Jayes: Joining me live now is Shadow Energy Minister Dan Tehan. Thanks so much for your time. Great to have you on AM agenda. So why the delay? Do you think because you don't agree, or the Coalition's policy at least going to the election, is that you didn't want all these poles and wires in the first place?
Dan Tehan: Well, the problem is that Chris Bowen's made a complete mess of our electricity transition. Everywhere you look, it's a mess. And the one thing that he doesn't want to answer is, what is the cost of this mess? So we know that his plans don't take into consideration the cost of this roll out of new poles and wires. He won't put a figure on it, we now know that that's delayed. So what does that mean when it comes to the grid's reliability going forward? And also, what does it mean for consumers? Because, as we've seen today, the government owned electricity provider, Red Energy, has just sent its power bill increases to its customers in Queensland, in New South Wales and in Victoria. And when Chris Bowen was asked about this, what he had to say to these customers, which have just seen these large increases again, he said, Oh, there's a review taking place. Well the message from these customers to Chris Bowen, who is sunning himself in the Pacific Island at the moment, is they want an apology, because Chris Bowen promised these customers a $275 reduction in their power bills, and yet, here he is when they get another increase, saying, Oh, we've got this under review. Everywhere you look, it's just a mess. It is a mess.
Jayes: But this review, or this warning from the energy market operator, is for this bottleneck to occur in 2027 so we still do have time, perhaps maybe two years, perhaps less than two years away. What do you think needs to be done? Does it need to be a doubling down on getting these transmission lines actually built? And I mean, I know you're blaming Chris Bowen, but isn't Victoria your state part of the big problem here?
Tehan: Of course it is, and it's because they've focused on this renewables only approach, and they've completely demonized gas. They've completely demonized the idea that we should have gas peaking plants, and now in Victoria, what we're seeing to try and overcome these delays is they're taking property rights away from farmers. It's because they haven't got the plan right, and in particular, because they've focused on renewables only. If they had have had a technology neutral approach, we wouldn't be in the mess that we are in at the moment. And what I would say to the Victorian State Government and to Chris Bowen, the first thing you could do to help alleviate these issues is to look at the role of gas and look to see what you can do to get more gas into the system. Everyone says, we need more gas into the system, and rather than running roughshod over communities when it comes to putting increased grid costs on everyone look at the simple things you can do right here and now to alleviate costs on power bills, but also making sure that you're going to have a much more stable system going forward.
Jayes: Dan Tehan, let's talk about the taboo tax. You and I have been talking about this for quite some time. Back in 2015 you're on my show talking about the GST. You were a new backbencher back then, and you were talking about raising the GST and broadening the base to things like food, health, education, better applying the GST because, as you see, it is half baked the way it is at the moment, and you could better give people relief when it comes to income tax. Do you still believe that to be the case?
Tehan: Well, what I believe is that we have to be able to reduce taxes in this nation. And the one thing that I'm deeply concerned about when it comes to this great new fare, this great new productivity fare that this government is looking to be to conduct, is that we're not seeing the government say, right, we want to be able to reduce the overall tax take. We want to be able to reduce the overall tax burden on individuals. Now, if we can come up with a way that reduces the overall tax burden, then absolutely, we should look at all options. But when it comes to this government, all we see is them looking at ways to increase people's tax bills. And that is not what we need at the moment. It's not what this nation needs at the moment.
Jayes: No, certainly not. But that argument you made about the GST in 2015 is as true now as it was 10 years ago. It was politically taboo then. I think when you're looking at broad scale tax reform, this might be a golden opportunity. Will you renew that advocacy, increase the GST a fairer tax reduce the burden on income tax. I mean, Australia is over reliant when you look at comparable nations on income tax.
Tehan: Well, obviously, as an opposition, we will be looking at our economic policy. We'll be looking at our tax policy going forward now, as a senior member of the Shadow Cabinet, I look forward to working with Ted O'Brien to make sure that we take an economic policy to the next election and a tax policy to the next election, and I'll do that as a member of the team, and what I'll also be doing is making sure that when it comes to energy policy, that I'm looking at ways that we can make sure that energy remains affordable in this country and remains reliable, and we'll develop all those policies going forward as a senior member of the team. Obviously, I've got to do everything that I do consistent with my colleagues.
Jayes: I miss I miss you being a backbencher, we should go back to the backbench. So you tell me what you really think right now, but just let me put this last question to you. Then, Dan, I have one last crack. Have your principles changed on the matter?
Tehan: My principles have not changed. What we need is a lower tax burden in this nation, and we need to look at ways that we can reduce the tax burden. Because if we're going to make sure that our economy continues to grow, if we're going to make sure that we remain internationally competitive as a nation, then we've got to have a competitive tax system. And what we're seeing is countries around the world looking to put in place competitive tax systems, yet all we're seeing under this government is ways and means to try and tax people more, and that, to me, is just going to harm us more and more over time. And that's not what I want to see for our children. I want to make sure that we are leaving them with a nation which is competitive and internationally competitive, so that we can continue to grow our economy so they can continue to be able to afford houses, so they'll be able to bring up their children with a standard of living that we've enjoyed and at the moment, sadly, when we look that standard of living seems to be deteriorating before us, rather than getting better for younger Australians.
Jayes: Dan Tehan, good to talk to you.
Ends
Contact: Byron Vale 02 6277 4426 | byron.vale@aph.gov.au
