Mr TURNBULL (Wentworth—Prime Minister) (15:14): The House has urgent matters to discuss: energy prices and jobs. We've just heard from the member for Hunter who claims, apparently, that section 44 is the leading topic of conversation in his electorate. I tell you what, I know what the topic is. The topic is why he has abandoned the workers at Liddell, why he has abandoned the workers at Tomago and why he's abandoned the workers who elected him. And it is why this old boy of Cessnock High School, whose magazine is called The Black diamond, has suddenly become 'no coal Joel'. That's what he's up to— Government members interjecting— The SPEAKER: The Prime Minister will refer to members by their correct titles. Mr TURNBULL: We have had in the last two days very, very grave reports from the Australian Energy Market Operator, demonstrating that we face a grave shortage of dispatchable energy in the near term and over the medium term. That is putting jobs at risk and it's putting households under pressure. It is what happens when you have years of mistaken Labor energy policy. Opposition members: Table the advice! The SPEAKER: The Prime Minister will resume his seat for a second. The members for Rankin, Ballarat and Brand will leave under 94(a). The member for Ballarat will leave immediately or she will be named. The members for Rankin, Ballarat and Brand then left the chamber. Mr TURNBULL: What we've been told by the Australian Energy Market Operator is that the likelihood of a shortfall incident is between 39 and 43 per cent in Victoria and 26 and 33 per cent in South Australia, and that is a consequence of dispatchable power being driven out of the market by renewable energy. Now, renewable energy is becoming more available and it's becoming cheaper, and we are undertaking the largest renewable energy project built in Australia since the first Snowy scheme. So, we don't make any challenge to renewable energy. But one of the things the Labor Party has forgotten is that the sun doesn't shine all the time and the wind doesn't blow all the time. So in their mindless incompetence, in their reckless idiocy, they have proceeded down the track— Ms Husar interjecting— The SPEAKER: The member for Lindsay is warned! Mr TURNBULL: of putting more and more variable renewables into the energy mix and providing no backup and no storage. What about gas as a firming power? That would be good: you could use gas. But, oh no, another great achievement of the Labor Party was that they allowed gas to be exported from the east coast of Australia and, despite many warnings, failed to do anything to protect the domestic market. To be fair, the member for Port Adelaide has made a confession, and better late than never; I think we all agree with that. But it was rather late in coming. When he was on Insiders on 30 April, he was asked by Barrie Cassidy: 'You got plenty of advice when you were in government that the surge in exports would lead to these sorts of problems. You didn't take this action.' 'No,' said the member for Port Adelaide, 'We didn't get that advice.' That was very, very bad because the Labor Party government's own energy white paper said that these transitional pressures will manifest in tighter supply and higher prices. As if that weren't enough, the AEMO's Gas Statement of Opportunities in the same year said, 'This will result in supply shortfalls'. That's exactly what happened. Finally, it all caught up with him and he had to confess to David Speers—not a man of the cloth, not able to give absolution any more than his constituents or Australians will give the Labor Party absolution for their chronic failure in energy policy. Again and again, ideology and idiocy. Why are gas prices so high? Because Labor allowed gas to be exported and didn't protect the domestic market. That's a fact. Who's addressing it? We're addressing it. That's the matter we should be discussing today. That's really urgent. Energy prices are an urgent matter right now. That's what Australian families are talking about. That's what's putting Australian businesses and jobs at risk. And we've been told that AEMO estimates that in 2022 there will be a 1,000 megawatt shortfall in dispatchable energy in the national electricity market. That is a very big gap. That puts at risk jobs, businesses, families. It creates a huge vulnerability for blackouts. Now this is the big difference: we are for affordable and reliable energy; Labor is for blackouts. Labor is for energy shortages. Labor is for the types of outcomes the member for Port Adelaide has got used to in South Australia. He clearly loves being in the dark! A government member: He called it a hiccup. Mr TURNBULL: That's right; he called it a hiccup. When those hospitals had energy cut-offs, he called it a hiccup. That's all it was. One of the obvious opportunities to cover that 1,000 megawatt gap is to get more life out of existing coal-fired power stations, and Liddell obviously has an opportunity to run for longer—to run past 2022. Now, you would think that this is an obvious opportunity. It has been flagged by Alan Finkel himself as a good avenue to go down, and it has been flagged by AEMO as a prudent approach. It's perfectly obvious that the cheapest coal-fired power is that from existing power stations, so you would think you would get some support for that, particularly from the member for Hunter. But this is what he said: 'not one energy company has shown any interest in the Prime Minister's thought bubble'. Sadly, that turns out to be very quickly out of date. He has denied any opportunity to provide continued employment for the workers at Liddell or, indeed, for the workers at Tomago. Mr Fitzgibbon interjecting— Mr TURNBULL: No, the honourable member can't dig his way out of that. You're deep in the pit, Member for Hunter, right at the bottom. There's risk of a cave-in if you go any further, I can tell you. You are in very deep waters here. The member for Hunter is betraying every member of his electorate who depends on energy, who depends on manufacturing. The Labor Party have walked away from energy security. They have walked away from any attempt to defend the jobs, the occupations of those many workers they claim to represent. And we have the Leader of the Opposition's union, the Australian Workers Union, with lots of miners. The Leader of the Opposition used to represent a lot of miners. Mr Joyce: Once upon a time. Mr TURNBULL: He did. He represented them. And then he gave $100,000 of their dues to GetUp! What did GetUp! use the $100,000 for? They used it for a campaign to close down the industries that employed his members. What that tells you is that the Leader of the Opposition, like all of these union bosses, is utterly disconnected from the members he represents. These are the issues we should be discussing. We should be focused today on energy policy, as we have been throughout this question time. And what we've had from the opposition instead are big threats of creating chaos and mayhem in the parliament, a swingeing question time strategy. We felt battered by it over here—it was like being flogged with a wet lettuce! The reality is the Labor Party has failed Australians on energy and now, when we see the result, when the facts are laid out by AEMO, the Labor Party is not prepared to discuss it. Those are the issues we should be discussing. That's why this motion should be rejected. We have urgent matters of energy security to deal with in this House. We should be addressing today the jobs, the businesses, the households of Australia. We can discuss those today. The Labor Party should focus on the real concerns of the people they so dismally represent—the people they claim to represent. (Time expired) The SPEAKER: The time allotted for this debate has concluded. The question is that the motion moved by the Manager of Opposition Business be agreed to.