'Smoke and mirrors': Chris Bowen's claim power prices are coming down dismantled by energy expert
On Wednesday, Mr Bowen was asked if he stood by the Albanese government's commitment to cut power bills by $275 by the end of the year.
At first Mr Bowen insisted energy bills have come down since last year, pointing to ABS data released on Wednesday.
' People looked at the fact that energy prices have fallen, as I just said, by 6.2 per cent in a year just gone,' he said.
'They would have been 16.6 per cent higher if [Tehan] had had his way and energy bill relief had not applied. That was the key difference.'
Frontier Economics co-founder and Managing Director Danny Price, Shadow Energy Minister Dan Tehan and Nationals MP Matt Canavan have objected to Mr Bowen's claims.
Speaking to SkyNews.com.au, Mr Tehan said his Labor counterpart 'must come clean' with the Australian people.
Mr Tehan said once the $3.5 billion in energy bill rebates were taken out of consideration, power bills in Australia have gone up by 10 per cent since June last year, and up 32 per cent since the June before.
'We need to stop energy prices rising, not take billions of dollars from Australians every year, to give it back to them to temporarily hide the price rises,' Mr Tehan said.
'This is not honouring a commitment it is deceiving people.'
Frontier Economics Managing Director Danny Price told SkyNews.com.au the subsidy was put in place to 'disguise' the electricity price rise which was announced the Australian Energy Regulator in March.
'Cost increases across nearly all components of the DMO (Default Market Offer) have resulted in draft DMO 7 prices for residential customers increasing between 2.5 per cent and 8.9 per cent compared with DMO 6, depending on the region. Small business customers could see rises between 4.2 per cent and 8.2 per cent,' the AER said.
Mr Price said the Energy Minister's claim that electricity consumers were better off by 6.2 per cent was due to taxpayers 'paying for their own price reductions by funding the subsidies to themselves'.
Nationals Senator Matt Canavan said once the subsidies run out, power bills will go 'through the roof'.
'Chris Bowen's claim is like stealing $100 from someone and giving $20 back so they can thank him,' he said.
'It's all smoke and mirrors.'
According to Budget Paper No. 1 (2025-26), the government will commit an extra $1.8 billion to extend energy bill relief, in the form of two quarterly $75 rebates, to the end of 2025.
The rebates are on top of around $5 billion in rebates being applied to electricity bills for millions of households and small businesses since 2023.
The Frontier Economics boss said households were 'actually worse off' thanks to the Commonwealth Energy Bill Relief Fund, and pointed to the Australian Bureau of Statistics' explanation that the price reductions were an 'artifice of taxpayer funded subsidies' and the annual fall in price was directly due to the handouts.
'Electricity [prices] rose 8.1 per cent this quarter, following a 16.3 per cent rise in the March quarter,' the ABS said.
'Despite two consecutive quarterly rises in electricity, the series has recorded a fall of 6.2 per cent over the past 12 months.
'The annual fall is due to the introduction of the second round of the Commonwealth Energy Bill Relief Fund (EBRF) rebates from July 2024, which continue to reduce electricity costs in most capital cities.'
Mr Price said despite the 'massive subsidies', consumers were much worse off than a few years ago because of the relentless price rises that have already occurred that were not offset by subsidies.
'Australians now pay some of the highest electricity prices in the world. It seems as though now taxpayers will continue to pay for the ever-rising costs of renewable subsidies,' he said.
The Energy Minister also claimed on Wednesday that 'most cheapest form of energy ... is renewable'.
Mr Price said it was 'deceptive and misleading' for individuals to make comparisons between the stand-alone costs of wind and solar and coal, gas or nuclear.
'Consumers are supplied with a mix of generation sources, not just wind and solar. The only valid way that generation costs should be compared is the total cost of the least cost mix of generation,' he said.
'Frontier Economics showed that the highest cost system is one that relied on renewables and batteries. The reason is simple. Renewable generators only produce about a quarter or third of the electricity for the same capacity.'
'And then you need to pay for the costs of storing excess renewable energy to supply consumer for the majority of time that these generators do not generate electricity, and you also need to pay for the back-up generation when storages are depleted,' he said.
'Once all these costs are included, which the CSIRO don't include ... then renewables are not the cheapest form of generation."
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Mr Battin said working from home was a valuable option for many workers and families. "We support measures that help Victorians enjoy a better work-life balance, and will review any legislation closely, to ensure it supports flexibility, productivity and personal choice," he said. The federal coalition's push to end to working-from-home for public servants was partly blamed for its unsuccessful result at the May federal election, despite abandoning the policy before polling day. NSW Premier Chris Minns has described remote-work provisions as a thing of the past but stopped short of seeking an end to working from home, instead ordering public servants to work principally in offices. More than one third of Australian employees usually work from home but that number swells to 60 per cent of managers and people in professional services, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The bureau says 43 per cent who work from home do overtime, compared to one quarter of those who do not. A legal right to work from home would be divisive and likely send jobs elsewhere, business groups say. A state government has revealed plans to enshrine the right to work from home for both public and private-sector employees. The premier behind the Australian-first push hails its as the next frontier in worker rights that would benefit working parents. The Victorian government has promised to introduce legislation in 2026 for the right to work from home on two days per week, in contrast to other states that want public servants to spend more time in the office. The proposed law would apply to all public and private sector employees in Victoria who can reasonably do their job from home. Details are yet to be worked through and Premier Jacinta Allan signalled the changes could come into effect under Victoria's Equal Opportunity Act, as private workplaces are regulated by federal laws. Ms Allan promoted the plan as beneficial to both the economy and families, likening it to other significant workplace changes in recent decades including more women entering the workforce. "There's been many, many gains over many, many generations that have supported women's opportunity to increase their workforce participation, this is just another important, big step," she told reporters. Issues such as the definition of remote work, who can do it, how it would affect part-time workers and the types of businesses to which the law would apply, will be figured out through a consultation process. Ms Allan said the decision had gone through cabinet and brushed off suggestions it could trigger a court challenge. The plan drew sharp criticism from business groups, with Australian Industry Group Victorian head Tim Piper describing it as serious government overreach that undermines business autonomy. He described it as "pure political theatre" designed to wedge the opposition while also running counter to both global trends and business best practice. "These policies foster an 'us versus them' dynamic, privileging some white-collar workers while leaving blue-collar employees with no choice," he said. "It's divisive, disruptive, and dangerous." Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Paul Guerra claimed businesses would move interstate and jobs would be lost if Victoria moved away from the legislated national system. "(Work from home) certainly works well in some contexts, but that should be determined by the employer in consultation with the employee," he said. Ms Allan promised to introduce the law in 2026 prior to the state election. Polls indicate Labor is on track to win a fourth term but the November 2026 poll will be the first as premier for Ms Allan, who lags opposition leader Brad Battin as preferred state leader. Mr Battin said working from home was a valuable option for many workers and families. "We support measures that help Victorians enjoy a better work-life balance, and will review any legislation closely, to ensure it supports flexibility, productivity and personal choice," he said. The federal coalition's push to end to working-from-home for public servants was partly blamed for its unsuccessful result at the May federal election, despite abandoning the policy before polling day. NSW Premier Chris Minns has described remote-work provisions as a thing of the past but stopped short of seeking an end to working from home, instead ordering public servants to work principally in offices. More than one third of Australian employees usually work from home but that number swells to 60 per cent of managers and people in professional services, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The bureau says 43 per cent who work from home do overtime, compared to one quarter of those who do not. A legal right to work from home would be divisive and likely send jobs elsewhere, business groups say. A state government has revealed plans to enshrine the right to work from home for both public and private-sector employees. The premier behind the Australian-first push hails its as the next frontier in worker rights that would benefit working parents. The Victorian government has promised to introduce legislation in 2026 for the right to work from home on two days per week, in contrast to other states that want public servants to spend more time in the office. The proposed law would apply to all public and private sector employees in Victoria who can reasonably do their job from home. Details are yet to be worked through and Premier Jacinta Allan signalled the changes could come into effect under Victoria's Equal Opportunity Act, as private workplaces are regulated by federal laws. Ms Allan promoted the plan as beneficial to both the economy and families, likening it to other significant workplace changes in recent decades including more women entering the workforce. "There's been many, many gains over many, many generations that have supported women's opportunity to increase their workforce participation, this is just another important, big step," she told reporters. Issues such as the definition of remote work, who can do it, how it would affect part-time workers and the types of businesses to which the law would apply, will be figured out through a consultation process. Ms Allan said the decision had gone through cabinet and brushed off suggestions it could trigger a court challenge. The plan drew sharp criticism from business groups, with Australian Industry Group Victorian head Tim Piper describing it as serious government overreach that undermines business autonomy. He described it as "pure political theatre" designed to wedge the opposition while also running counter to both global trends and business best practice. "These policies foster an 'us versus them' dynamic, privileging some white-collar workers while leaving blue-collar employees with no choice," he said. "It's divisive, disruptive, and dangerous." Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Paul Guerra claimed businesses would move interstate and jobs would be lost if Victoria moved away from the legislated national system. "(Work from home) certainly works well in some contexts, but that should be determined by the employer in consultation with the employee," he said. Ms Allan promised to introduce the law in 2026 prior to the state election. Polls indicate Labor is on track to win a fourth term but the November 2026 poll will be the first as premier for Ms Allan, who lags opposition leader Brad Battin as preferred state leader. Mr Battin said working from home was a valuable option for many workers and families. "We support measures that help Victorians enjoy a better work-life balance, and will review any legislation closely, to ensure it supports flexibility, productivity and personal choice," he said. The federal coalition's push to end to working-from-home for public servants was partly blamed for its unsuccessful result at the May federal election, despite abandoning the policy before polling day. NSW Premier Chris Minns has described remote-work provisions as a thing of the past but stopped short of seeking an end to working from home, instead ordering public servants to work principally in offices. More than one third of Australian employees usually work from home but that number swells to 60 per cent of managers and people in professional services, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The bureau says 43 per cent who work from home do overtime, compared to one quarter of those who do not.
