Chris Bowen will deliver a keynote address at the National Press Club today. Here are seven questions he needs to answer.
1. When will Australians get their $275 power bill cut? It was promised 97 times before the 2022 Federal election, but has vanished without a trace. Last week’s inflation data showed little progress towards fulfilling this promise, with electricity prices up more than 22 per cent in a year.
2. How much is Net Zero actually costing taxpayers? Last year, the Prime Minister conceded that Labor’s Net Zero agenda was costing the Budget $75 billion. Since then, it has been uncovered that Labor’s Cheaper Home Batteries Program has blown out from its original $2.3 billion budget to a truly staggering $8.5 billion. No wonder Labor is refusing to reveal exactly how much has been spent on their massive green fund, the Capacity Investment Scheme. There’s nothing ‘cheap’ about Labor’s renewables.
3. Why the mixed signals on fuel security? If the Prime Minister truly cared about locking in fuel security, why did he cut millions out of the Coalition’s successful Diesel Storage Program when he thought no one was looking? The problem is that energy producers in Australia are paying Labor’s carbon tax, the Safeguard Mechanism, which is driving investment offshore and hurting our local manufacturers.
4. What’s happened to Australia’s dream of becoming a renewable energy superpower using green hydrogen? Over the past four years, Chris Bowen has spent millions of taxpayer dollars to prop up the “vital” renewable hydrogen industry, which he said would deliver cheaper energy. But countless renewable hydrogen projects have fallen over, production has flatlined and more than $1 billion has been cut from Labor’s various renewable hydrogen subsidy programs.
5. When are we going to see the Snowy Hydro’s financials? A recent report by the Auditor-General found that this massive project has been plagued with “significant deficiencies” under Labor. Despite a so-called “project reset” in mid 2023, we still don’t know how much the project will cost taxpayers to complete.
6. How much will Australians pay for COP? More than 240,000 Australians are on energy hardship plans, but taxpayers are shelling out millions for overseas politicians to jet into Fiji and stay at 5-star resorts. And now there are reports that scores of world leaders won’t even show up.
7. And finally, what is so ‘sovereign’ about renewables? Australia is completely reliant on importing the majority of solar and wind technology – just ask China. The largest wind tower manufacturer in Australia was mothballed under Chris Bowen’s watch. Instead of sending our IP offshore, we need to drill for more oil and gas right here in Australia, leveraging the critical resources that are sitting underneath our feet.
Dan Tehan is the Shadow Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction.
ENDS
Media contact: Phil Connole M | 0417 063 605
Printed, News Corp tabloids, Wednesday 5 August 2026