Senator PATERSON (Victoria) (17:02): Yesterday's figures confirm electricity costs annually have risen 23.6 per cent. KPMG's chief economist, Brendan Rynne, said: We knew there was going to be an uptick in inflation once electricity rebates were wound back but unfortunately today's spike is much higher than any of us anticipated. Will the minister finally admits the government's promise to reduce power prices is now in tatters, causing more pain to Australian households?