The Albanese government has negotiated deals with the states and territories to meet its promise to deliver up to $3 billion in power bill relief
The Albanese government has had to negotiate eight separate deals with the states and territories to meet its promiseDue to different eligibility criteria and varying power prices in each jurisdiction, the assistance for low-income households and small business will resemble a patchwork quilt in terms of amounts and who receives it.
But unanticipated complexities pushed out the rollout date. Some states already had schemes with differing qualification criteria between jurisdictions.This was further complicated by the Commonwealth selecting family tax benefits as the eligibility criteria for its share of the energy bill relief.And because power prices are higher in some states than others, the levels of assistance will vary.
Sources confirmed that after long negotiations between state and federal treasurers, and their officials, agreement has been reached and the Albanese government will roll out its $1.5 billion in assistance in the May 9 budget as the centrepiece of a cost of living package.There will also be assistance to help low-income households switch from gas to electric appliances.
Mr Dutton said energy costs would be exacerbated by new hurdles created for new gas investments as a result of Labor’s deal with the Greens to secure the passage of the climate change safeguard mechanism legislation. “The way that our colleagues have stuck together and rallied, they understand that at the 10-month mark, the government is still in its honeymoon period, and they’ll continue that for some time,” he said.
Mr Dutton has been criticised for not engaging with Labor on the safeguard mechanism to squeeze out the influence of the Greens, including on the gas industry.“The government also continues to undermine reliable and affordable baseload power at every turn,” he said.
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