Grievance Debate

RETAIL ENERGY MARKET

Mr HAMILTON-SMITH (Waite) (15:27): The Australian Energy Regulator today released its report entitled, 'Annual report on the performance of the retail energy market 2012-13', and it is a very sobering read indeed. It highlights a number of issues of grave concern. We need to be focusing our attention more on the costs of living, and in particular the costs of energy, because it is hurting people. It is affecting people's lives on a daily basis, and I am not hearing enough from the government in the way of remedies and solutions.

I get the distinct impression that government members have stopped listening to their constituents on power bills. The energy regulator has explained that power, and I am going to lay it out before members opposite. The report finds that of the 13 retailers who supply energy to small customers, over 80 per cent of those customers are supplied by the three largest retailers. Switching rates are high, but almost 20 per cent of small customers are still on standard contracts, despite market contracts being offered at better value.

Of course, we have heard that those standing contracts (many of them closed offers) have been kept secret, in effect, by the government's decision to remove from the state regulator ESCOSA its powers to access information about closed deals and volume related information, to the effect that when ESCOSA recently reported to its minister it had to acknowledge that its report could not be relied upon. For some mysterious reason, the government has muted and silenced the state regulator and limited its ability to provide openness and accountability.

So, we rely, again, on the Australian Energy Regulator to at least further flesh out some of the problems, and they are considerable. During 2012-13, over 50,000 complaints were made to retailers by SA customers, with billing prices and overcharging the most common cause of complaint. Around a quarter of these complaints went on to the Energy Ombudsman, a matter of great concern.

The report also looked at average energy debt levels in SA, and found that at the end of June 2013 around 40,000 electricity customers (just over 5 per cent) have huge amounts owing to their retailer for 90 days or more, with the average debt being around $700; in gas, 17,000 customers (4 per cent) had debts, with an average of $265.

Energy retailers are responding to this by providing customers with assistance; but at the end of June around 3 per cent of electricity customers (that is 20,906) were on payment plans, and an additional 8,500 customers were on hardship programs. The total number of residential electricity and gas disconnections for non-payment was around 14,100 in 2011-12. These are really scary and striking figures, and everyone should be alarmed about them.

I draw the house's attention to today's report from the South Australian Council of Social Service, entitled 'Keeping The Power On—SACOSS Response to Electricity Disconnections', dated November 2013. They go on to explain in almost heartbreaking terms the real effect this is having on mums and dads, small businesses to a lesser extent, but families in particular, with people literally facing dark, cold evenings through their inability to pay, many of them in very unfortunate circumstances. The Financial Review has even reported the disconnection of a number of people at home who are on life support systems.

This is just reckless and reprehensible, and it all goes back to the regulatory regime established by this government. It has been 12 years. They have been on the standing council of energy ministers for that time. They have had an opportunity to bring about real regulatory reform, to give us rules that work. They have not. As a result, costs have spiralled by 137 per cent in terms of bill increases, and people simply are not coping.

It is a cold and heartless government that has done very little to effectively deliver concession programs to those most in need. It appears to have simply wanted to shift the blame to anyone—shift the blame to previous governments, shift the blame to privatisation (something now refuted by commentators everywhere), shift the blame to everyone except themselves. They are responsible, sir.

Time expired.