Yes, and who would have thought they would deliberately delay an electricity price increase until after the election ?The former energy minister Angus Taylor asked his department to consider delaying telling voters about electricity price rises before the May election, then made the decision to do so.
Taylor told media in Octoberthat he didn’t know about incoming price rises and that he didn’t see the Australian Energy Regulator’s report proposing to increase the default market offer. In May last year, a spokesperson for Taylor rejected claims the delay was for political reasons.
Answers to questions on notice from the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet also reveal that the then prime minister, Scott Morrison, was informed by treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, that he had given Taylor power to delay notification of the price rise.
Since the “price safety net” was introduced in July 2019, the AER has been required to release its so-called default market offer on 1 May each year.
But on 7 April 2022 the Morrison government amended regulations so that the offer was not revealed until 26 May, delaying the news that prices were expected to rise by 11.3% to 12.6%, or about double the expected inflation rate, until days after the election.
My my, the chickens are coming home to roost. I wonder what the NACC will dig up ??
