Tuesday, 15 October 2024
Bills
Constitution Amendment (SEC) Bill 2023
Bills
Constitution Amendment (SEC) Bill 2023
Council’s amendments
Message from Council relating to following amendments considered:
1. Clause 4, page 6, line 30, omit “Victoria.” and insert “Victoria;”.
2. Clause 4, page 6, after line 30 insert –
“(f) to develop and invest in strategic renewable energy generation and systems and facilities and strategic renewable energy storage systems and facilities necessary to maintain Victoria’s energy system security and reliability in the long term.”.
3. Clause 4, page 7, lines 4 to 6, omit all words and expressions on these lines and insert –
“(a) if it is a body corporate in which shares have been issued –
(i) do anything contrary to section 104(2)(a); or
(ii) pay any dividend, or make any other distribution of profits to the shareholders of the SEC or the State; or
(b) if it is a body corporate established by or under an Act in which shares have not been issued, pay any dividend, or make any other distribution of profits to the State; or”.
4. Clause 4, page 7, line 7, omit “(b)” and insert “(c)”.
5. Clause 4, page 7, line 14, omit “104(2)(a)” and insert “104(2)(a)(i)”.
6. Clause 4, page 7, after line 14 insert –
“(2) A payment of a dividend or a distribution of profits that contravenes section 106(a)(ii) or (b) is void.”.
7. Clause 4, page 7, line 15, omit “(2)” and insert “(3)”.
8. Clause 4, page 7, line 17, omit “106(b)” and insert “106(c)”.
That the amendments be agreed to.
To that effect I would like to say a few words with respect to this bill as proposed to be amended. Victoria’s energy systems should never have been sold off in the first place. When those opposite in this chamber sold them off, Victorians paid the price while private companies made the profits off the back of Victoria’s assets, workers lost their jobs and skills were lost. It is shameful, and it should never have happened. Today I am very, very proud that this government is able to say that the SEC is back. Not only is it back but we are making sure that it is here to stay, protecting it from the Liberal Party and the National Party, who themselves have actually said already that they would flog it off again. We know that we cannot rely on them when it comes to public ownership and the public benefits that come from publicly owned assets in energy, because Victorians can be sure of one thing of course: that they will do it again. By safeguarding the SEC in Victoria’s constitution we can ensure this important institution can continue to increase its role in powering our state for the good of all Victorians and for good. With this bill the government will hold a controlling interest across its entire portfolio. Renewables – that is, 4.5 gigawatts of new renewables – will replace coal, and new projects will be owned by every Victorian to benefit every Victorian.
There have been a number of amendments agreed to in the Council, which the Assembly is being asked to agree to today. One of them inserts new section 105(f), which expands the objectives of the SEC to include the development of and investment in emerging and less commercial technologies, which are also needed to support Victoria’s energy transition and to maintain energy security and reliability in the post-transition period. The SEC has already commenced building its portfolio of renewable assets needed to accelerate Victoria’s progress towards its renewable energy target. When you accelerate the work, you bring in more supply, and the cheapest form of new build you can have is renewables. Bringing forward more supply means you put downward pressure on those wholesale prices that affect every Victorian.
The SEC is also ideally placed to play a leading role in investing and developing emerging renewable technologies and in systems and facilities which are not yet demonstrated as commercially viable in the Victorian market but which are critical to an orderly transition and maintaining energy security and reliability. For example, there is a particular need for accelerated development of long-duration energy storage systems such as pumped hydro, flow batteries and mechanical and thermal storage systems. Long-duration storage systems will be critical to supporting energy reliability as Victoria transitions to renewables, but investment cases for these asset classes and technologies can be challenging under existing market conditions. This does not change the government’s commitment to the SEC operating under competitive neutrality for commercial activities but simply makes it clear that the SEC can consider these sorts of strategic investments that the market is unable to deliver at a particular point in time.
The Council has also agreed to an amendment from the Greens. Their proposed new clause 4 reinforces the government’s existing clear commitment that any and all profits generated by the SEC will remain with the SEC and be used to invest in further renewable energy and storage projects, helping Victorian consumers. This bill also enshrines the objectives of the SEC into the constitution: to support Victoria’s transition to net zero greenhouse gas emissions; to generate, purchase and sell electricity to Victoria; to own, operate or participate in the operation of renewable energy generation and storage systems and facilities; to develop, support or participate in the development of or invest in renewable energy generation and storage systems and facilities; and to supply energy-related products or services to energy consumers in Victoria.
Importantly, to protect the SEC from the fossil fuel fans opposite, this bill prohibits the SEC from owning, operating or investing in a fossil fuel facility. The SEC will always be 100 per cent renewable. We know that the cheapest form of new energy you can build is renewable, and that is why Victoria has consistently the lowest power prices in the country – because of our record renewable energy investments since we were elected. We know that coal-fired power stations are closing in Victoria and fossil fuels are getting more expensive, so our renewable energy targets have never been more important for climate action, for cheaper power and for grid stability. That is why the objectives in this bill give the SEC an enduring purpose: delivering an affordable, reliable renewable future for Victoria.
The SEC is already delivering a renewable future for our state, with its first project under construction, the Melbourne Renewable Energy Hub in Plumpton. It is big. It is one of the biggest batteries in the world in fact – 1.6 gigawatt hours of energy, enough to power more than 200,000 homes – and it will enable more renewable projects to be connected to the grid. This project would not have happened today without the SEC; that is a fact. Let us be clear: because of the SEC, this project is happening sooner, is bigger and will enable more renewables to come into the system. The SEC’s investment has brought forward delivery of this project and upscaled one of its components from 2 to 4 hours, beyond what the market would have otherwise delivered. The additional firming capacity it gives us in the grid enables up to three times the amount of new renewable energy generation to be connected to the existing grid. It is not just about what it holds in terms of energy but what it enables in new projects getting connected.
We will have more to say very shortly about future projects that the SEC will be delivering, but we need to get as much cheap, reliable renewable energy in the grid as we can to keep the lights on, to keep power bills down and to decarbonise our energy system. While we are committed to delivering this, we cannot say the same for everyone in this chamber. When those opposite last were in government, they had an absolutely anti-renewables policy that effectively banned new wind farms being developed. In fact it was so bad that only one renewable energy project got approved under them in their four years – just one. Projects were abandoned. Many projects closed up shop and left the state. Power prices increased by 34 per cent, because there was no new pipeline of renewable energy projects coming down, and of course jobs were slashed. You would think that a decade later they would be a little bit more cautious about their policy presentations, but no, it is a recycled policy that they came up with last week, and we know what happened the last time that policy was put in place when they were in government. That is a recipe for a lack of reliability of our energy supply. It means that there is going to be a greater reliance on failing coal generators to stay alive and also power prices going through the roof.
This is enshrining the SEC, 100 per cent renewable, in the constitution. We know what can happen and what has happened when our assets get sold off. We do not want to see that ever happening again. The only ones who win are the big corporate players, who take money out of our state and out of the hands of ordinary Victorians. We are about reversing that, putting power back in the hands of Victorians, giving them an energy system that they can rely on, with 59,000 jobs that the SEC will help to accelerate between now and 2035, and ensuring that Victoria keeps being consistently the lowest wholesale electricity market in the country in delivering those cheaper wholesale prices.
This is a really great day. I am absolutely delighted that our government is fulfilling a very important election commitment that was made in 2022. We went to the election on the back of bringing back the SEC, helping to accelerate the transition through the creation of 59,000 jobs by 2035, keeping those power bills down, creating the SEC centre of training excellence – more will be said on that front – and developing consumer-facing solutions for Victorians by helping them with a trusted voice, someone in their corner who is prepared to help them to save on their energy bills by giving them practical advice.
There are a number of pilots that the SEC has already got out there in particular parts of our state – regional and metro Melbourne – which are testing some really terrific ideas that are already starting to prove very, very valuable. We will have more to say on all of that as time allows us into the future. We know privatisation has not worked. Every day we see the legacy of privatisation. With this bill and with all of the investments that we are making to have the SEC doing what it is doing and more, we are returning power to the hands of Victorians, because it is what Victorians deserve. I am absolutely delighted and proud that this bill is coming back to us, hopefully for final approval.
James NEWBURY (Brighton) (13:30): I will start where the minister left off in relation to the amendments to the Constitution Amendment (SEC) Bill 2023. The minister said a number of times that there would be more to say when it comes to the SEC, and that is the story of the SEC. We saw a press release before the last election – a one-sheet press release, as the former Premier was so accustomed to doing – with no detail, and from that date to now, to today, we have still seen no detail. What this bill does is set up effectively a shell, but it does not deliver what Victorians need, and that is reliable, affordable and secure energy. What we hear from that side of the chamber is ideology, not just in the speech on the amendments today. Follow the minister on Twitter and you can see not just ideological wars in Victoria but fights with the federal government on energy ideology – fights over ideology with the federal government in relation to energy supply.
What we have seen from the federal government is the federal government calling out that there is a problem with this state providing reliable, affordable and secure energy to Victorians. You would think that this government would put those goals at the heart of what they do – they should be a core function of what they do, ensuring that the community has that – but we know that they do not. We know that in this state, which is so reliant on things like gas – 2 million homes are reliant on gas – we are seeing an ideological ban on gas.
This bill is nothing more than a shell. The minister spoke in her speech about the SEC providing consumer-facing solutions. Do you know what consumer-facing solutions are? Four hundred thousand dollars on promotional junk. That is what the government mean when they talk about consumer-facing solutions. They mean the yo-yos, they mean the coffee mugs and they mean the jelly beans. That is what the SEC has produced thus far – oh, and tote bags; I forgot the tote bags: $400,000 of junk. That is what this government has done: spent taxpayer money on junk. What they have not done is provide energy solutions to Victorians.
We are two years effectively since the last election – two years – and when it comes to the SEC nothing meaningful has happened. We have seen broken promises and we have seen a waste of money. We have seen this bill sit upstairs for months and months and months and months because the government was not able to convince the crossbench to work it through – more delays, more delays. That speaks to the government, frankly, and their lack of capacity to deal with, in most cases, independent members who lean their way. They could not even convince people who lean their way.
We are dealing with amendments today which the coalition did not support in the upper house, because we know that in the two years after their media release announcement the government has not done anything meaningful – two years, and there has been no outcome. Victorians now know that when it comes to energy, they do not have energy security. They know that energy is not affordable, and they know that there is chaos in the government over which position to take on energy policy, not only in their own team in relation to policy positions but also with the federal government, which has called out the ideological approach of this government, which ended up in a Twitter war from the minister.
I mean, a Twitter war between the minister and the federal minister – it was very, very unedifying to see when it came to that fight over energy security. What I would say about the federal government is they have sided with the need for Victoria to do better when it comes to energy policy. That is what they have said. They have said they want the Victorian government to do better when it comes to energy policy.
This week we are seeing bills move before this house which are entirely contradictory. One says we want to have a structural dealing with supply of gas and the capacity to store gas for times of need, effectively, and at the same time a bill moves forward that bans gas. It bans gas at the same time as the Premier says we are not banning gas. Is there any wonder why Victorians do not understand what the government is doing and have lost trust in what the government is doing?
But this bill is about the SEC. This bill creates a shell that enables the SEC, but what it does not do is provide detail and what it does not do is do meaningful things. What Victorians deserve is reliable, affordable and secure energy. What they do not need is the government wasting money on SEC yo-yos and coffee cups. I do not know what happened to those yo-yos. They perhaps were provided to the members of the caucus. They might have just been provided to members of the caucus for all we know, but what we do know is that $400,000 was wasted on junk and that did not reduce the bill of a single Victorian when it comes to energy. So the coalition opposed these measures in the upper house, and we will do so shortly.
Nina TAYLOR (Albert Park) (13:37): If ever there was a speech that could attest to the position of the opposition when it comes to the renewable transition in Victoria, that probably was one of them. They are clearly renewable energy phobic, because you only have to mention the word ‘solar’ and they go off, but not in a good way, because they want to enslave Victoria exclusively to fossil fuels into eternity. We know, when it comes to cutting emissions and when it comes to cutting costs, what Victorians want, because we took this to the election. Nobody was shy about it, nobody slipped it under the cover; we were very, very candid. In fact I remember standing on the roof of the Melbourne Museum when we made this fantastic announcement about bringing back the SEC.
What is so exciting about it? There are so many different aspects, but it is about accelerating the transition to a clean energy future. But I am not surprised that the opposition are not excited about that. They do not care about a clean energy future. It is not a priority for them, clearly, because every time we talk about renewables, they want to do everything but go on a transition for Victoria, which is a darn shame. Having said that, talking about ideology versus action, let us talk about the action that has already occurred in Victoria resulting from or associated with the SEC.
In just the first month alone 3000 households have used the SEC’s electric home planner to get trusted advice on how to slash their energy bills. Oh, that is just ideology! No, that is actually 3000 households that have used the SEC electric home planner, because these are some of the aspects of the SEC. It is about supporting –
Members interjecting.
Nina TAYLOR: See, they hate renewables. Any time we are doing what we need to do to help Victorians on the path to transition, look how they jack up. They cannot stand it. They love their fossil fuels; they want to be enslaved by them for eternity. That is nice for them, but we are going to look out for our Victorian people and what they want, because clearly they voted for it at the election.
530 Victorians have had jobs created on the construction of the SEC’s first project, one of the biggest batteries in the world. I am really excited about this. I know what it means for our great state, but those opposite could not care less. It does not matter to them because they do not care about the clean energy transition. And we know they have form in this space, because it was quoted a little bit earlier.
In fact way back when, when they were in government in Victoria, their attitude to renewables was so bad, talking about ideology, that only one renewable energy project got approved under them – just one. So if we are talking about inaction, if we are talking about inertia, if we are talking about ideology, then look here: you only have to look across the chamber and there you have it when it comes to the attitude – the very negative attitude – towards renewables.
We know this is the way forward. We have to do it – we have to cut emissions. That is an absolute imperative for the future of young Victorians. Even if they do not care about themselves, they should care about future generations but also about tackling the rising cost of energy. I should say on that that Victoria consistently has the lowest wholesale power prices in the country. That is not ideology; that is the result of consistent legislative reform and action when it comes to tackling the various aspects of the energy sector – namely, the privatisation – which, thanks very much to those opposite, caused an explosion in energy prices. But we are hauling that back because we know that it is in the interests of fellow Victorians to do this. This is absolutely the right thing to do.
Talking about ideology versus action, the SEC is already delivering with its first project under construction, the Melbourne Renewable Energy Hub in Plumpton. That is actually a real thing. It is big, one of the biggest batteries in the world in fact – 1.6 gigawatts of energy, enough to power 200,000 homes. Now, I think that is something to be excited about. But it is not just about excitement, it is actually a pragmatic outcome. It is a benefit to Victorians when we are looking at on the one hand cutting emissions but also appropriate energy storage.
I am sorry those opposite do not value those kinds of projects. I do not see that as ideology, because it is actually a physical thing. A big, big battery is a physical thing. It is not just a thought bubble; it is action, and it actually is generating jobs as well. Are jobs ideological? Well, only if they do not happen. But we can see already, as I said, 530 jobs having been generated and created on the construction of the SEC’s first project – real jobs for real Victorians. It would be really lovely if those opposite would actually get on board and understand the true benefits of renewable energy. It is not about pipedreams, it is actually about finding affordable mechanisms to tackle not only energy costs but also emissions into the future.
I should say the SEC’s investment has brought forward delivery of this project and upscaled it – get that, it has brought it forward. This is one of the key elements, and what makes this transition so exciting is that the SEC is actually a mechanism to accelerate the transition, and that is really, really important for our state. The SEC’s investment has brought forward delivery of this project and upscaled one of its components from 2 to 4 hours beyond what the market would have otherwise delivered. I am just going to repeat that: beyond what the market would otherwise have delivered. This is a key and integral point as to why we have brought back the SEC, because we know this is a much-needed mechanism that drives the imperative to accelerate the energy transition.
The additional firming capacity it gives us in the grid enables up to three times the amount of new renewable energy generation to come online. When we are looking at that in terms of output, that is a real game changer for Victoria, and of course we will have more to say very shortly about what the next projects are that are coming on board for the SEC.
It is safe to say we need this legislation in place, because we can see by the rhetoric of those opposite that if we do not enshrine the SEC and its place in our state, what would they do if they got in? The first thing they would do is they would rip it up, smash it away and unwind those renewables. They would not get on board with those. Let us just be really frank about that. They have form. We have seen how they behave. I remember way back when, when there was such restriction on the wind industry –
Members interjecting.
Nina TAYLOR: Well, I tell you what, there are many possibilities. Let me tell you, there are many possibilities. But anyway, I have no objection to this. I welcome wind farms for Albert Park, let me tell you. But anyway –
Members interjecting.
Nina TAYLOR: We are getting off track.
Members interjecting.
Nina TAYLOR: See, they hate renewables. There they go again, classic resistance to a clean energy future. There we have it. Every time we have the opportunity to discuss this in a mature and consistent way, look at the opposition. You only have to mention solar: ‘Oh, no, we can’t have solar in this state. Heaven forbid we might cut some emissions, we might make a cleaner energy future!’
Members interjecting.
Nina TAYLOR: Look, see, they hate it. They hate renewable energy. Whipping them up does not take much. On that note, I commend this bill to the house.
Tim READ (Brunswick) (13:45): The Greens support these amendments, including the constitutional amendment which ensures the SEC’s profits are always directed into further investments in renewable energy projects and cannot be taken by the current or a future government in the form of dividends. This was a Greens amendment and was accompanied by an assurance from the government in the third-reading stage of the bill that they would not charge a financial accommodation levy. We know that governments frequently like to pull billions of dollars out of public corporations like the TAC, but for the SEC to fulfil its stated function of consistently accelerating renewable investment it cannot be used as a cash cow whenever a government is strapped for money. Theoretically, and absurdly, a government could even direct any dividends received from the SEC into funding new fossil fuel projects without this amendment. A key government promise at time of the announcement was that all SEC profits would be invested back into more renewables, but there was nothing in the bill to hold it or future governments to this commitment, and the Greens amendment fixes this oversight.
The SEC has enormous potential to drive the coal-to-renewables transition if it gets the funds necessary for the task. A recent government report quoted a PricewaterhouseCoopers report estimating that that task would cost around $35 billion. I think that that estimate is a couple of years old, so assuming that is roughly accurate – that we need to spend about $35 billion to provide the renewable generation and storage necessary to get Victoria off coal – the SEC’s $1 billion means it is less than 3 per cent of the size required. Fortunately there is plenty of private money willing to be spent on this, but there are barriers in the form of planning hold-ups particularly. These urgently need to be addressed, and some of them have been by the government. Nevertheless, we do need to accelerate the transition as quickly as possible, and if the SEC is to do that, it seems to me that it would need considerably more than the $1 billion it has so far received. I will leave it there.
Dylan WIGHT (Tarneit) (13:48): You never quite know if the Greens are going to use their full allotment of time, so I was ready. It gives me great pleasure this afternoon to come in here and speak about the SEC. Indeed every time that I and my colleagues can walk into this place and speak about the SEC it is an absolutely fantastic day. It is great to be able to do so once again today after some amendments from the upper house have seen this bill returned to this chamber.
In speaking on this matter this afternoon, and indeed hopefully moving to pass this bill today, the government is fulfilling one of its most important election commitments. The SEC will turbocharge Victoria’s transition to a renewable energy future. I have spoken on several occasions in this place about the Allan Labor government’s incredibly ambitious renewable energy targets. They are most certainly the most ambitious of any jurisdiction in this country and indeed some of the most ambitious of any jurisdiction anywhere right around the world. The SEC will turbocharge our trajectory to that renewable energy future right here in Victoria. In doing so we will make Victoria one of the most attractive places for business to invest anywhere in the world, whether that be through clean manufacturing or whether that be through significant renewable energy projects to get us to those ambitious targets or whether that be simply by creating a situation and an environment with clean energy and cheap, reliable power. It will just be a cheaper and more profitable place to do business.
But the SEC is not just doing that – that is a significant part of it, but it is not just doing that. In my maiden speech, almost a couple of years ago now, I said that the SEC is all about jobs. It will create 59,000 jobs right here in Victoria, including 6000 jobs, or roles, for apprentices and for trainees. When we made this announcement during the campaign and when I was going and speaking to voters in Hoppers Crossing and in Tarneit, they could remember with fondness their time working as young people in the SEC. During my time as a union official, going through manufacturing facilities and talking to workers, they spoke to me about where they did their apprenticeship, and they did it at the SEC. If those opposite have not quite figured out yet, it was a pretty popular announcement – it most certainly was in my electorate.
It is not enough for us to just bring back the SEC, for all the reasons that I just articulated; we also have to enshrine it in the constitution, which is also fulfilling an election promise that we made. We have to enshrine it in the constitution to protect it from the vandals opposite, because they have already said one of their first points of business if they are elected will be to trash the SEC once again. Now, we know –
Dylan WIGHT: The member for South-West Coast is talking to herself again. We know that in 1994 –
James Newbury: On a point of order, Deputy Speaker, that was an entirely inappropriate way for the member to speak to a member on any side of the chamber.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: There is no point of order, but the member to continue through the Chair.
Dylan WIGHT: We know that in 1994, under the Liberals, Jeff Kennett – he has had a big weekend – privatised the SEC. We know what the impact of that was: it drove electricity prices up by more than 50 per cent. Eight thousand people lost their jobs. The people that I speak to and that I spoke about in Hoppers Crossing, in the manufacturing facilities across Victoria – they lost their jobs because of Jeff Kennett. The member for Brighton wants to speak about an empty shell. If the member for Brighton wants to see an empty shell, he need look no further than his own party room, because his party room has not had an energy policy –
James Newbury: On a point of order, Deputy Speaker, this is a debate on a set of amendments. I am not sure what the member is speaking about, but it is not that.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: The member has strayed from the amendments in front of the house, and I ask him to come back.
Dylan WIGHT: As I said, it is a pleasure to be in here this afternoon to speak on the SEC and to fulfil one of the significant commitments that we made during the 2022 election – to not just bring back the SEC and turbocharge our transition to renewable energy but also enshrine it in the constitution. I commend this to the house.
Martin CAMERON (Morwell) (13:54): I am pleased to rise today in the 6 minutes that are left to talk about bringing back the SEC. Everybody says this policy was what the people of Victoria wanted. Well, I tell you, I can stand here today and say it was so popular in the seat of Morwell, where we have made power for over 100 years and will continue to for the next 100 years in providing energy for Victoria, that they did not even vote a Labor member into Parliament. They voted a National member into Parliament – ‘We’re bringing back the SEC’ – because they could see right through it. That is what they could see through with bringing back the SEC. The people that had been in Loy Yang, had been in Hazelwood and also had been in Yallourn could see straight through the policy. We had ministers standing in the power station saying, ‘This is going to be the most wonderful thing we’ll ever see. It’s going to get our renewables through.’ Well, we have not seen one iota of renewables coming into the Latrobe Valley. Yes, actually, we do have a battery, which lasts for about 1 hour and 12 minutes if it is running at its full capacity, to generate power for the people of Victoria.
We are putting a lot of our energy into batteries, into wind farms and also into solar farms, but what they renege on and do not tell us is the price that it is going to cost to build the transmission lines to carry the power to get it to the power station so that we can have beautiful, clean, green energy here in Melbourne, where we sit. We can rely on our green energy coming from right around regional Victoria, because we do not want to have wind turbines in the inner city of Melbourne that are as tall as the Rialto building: ‘No, we don’t want to look at them, because that’s a little bit of pollution that’s going to be a little bit hard on the eyes, and we can’t palate that. So we’ll throw that out and dump them right around regional Victoria, and then we’ll build all these transmission lines, which are going to rip across beautiful farming land.’ What they also do not take into account is that we have got to feed people in this state. If we are going to stand here and have a renewables policy that is going to destroy our agriculture, our prime agricultural land that we need to feed the state – it beggars belief that we come in with all these policies. Our energy mix is going to be a mix of a lot of stuff; it is not going to be one magic bullet that makes it come through.
But we are talking about bringing back the SEC today. We have an office in Morwell that is going to be the hub for these 59,000 people, we take it – but we have one person that works there only a couple of days a week in a hot desk. It does not make sense. They are falling way behind to bring all this energy transition from these renewables online to secure the energy needs of the Victorian public. We are having more and more people moving into Victoria. Some are leaving because it is easier to be interstate to run your business, but we are getting more and more people here. When we come into the state and we turn the light switch on in our house, all we want is for that light to come on. People do not care what the energy mix is; as long as it comes on, that is all they care about.
If bringing back the SEC, as I said, was so good and everybody in Victoria was so happy with it, why would they have voted me, a member of the National Party, into the seat of Morwell, where they came with this magnificent project to get their Labor candidate in? Thank goodness they did not succeed, because they are trying to decimate the Latrobe Valley at the moment with all the agendas that they have got. But they have got a roadblock in me. I will stand up here every single day and speak of the virtues of the Latrobe Valley, and I will point out and I will use scientific fact about how the SEC is actually failing the Victorian people and how it is making their energy prices go up. I get my bills, and they are not going down, down, down. Every single person in Victoria knows that our prices are going up, up, up. When will it stop? When will the minister get up and actually deal with the facts for the people of Victoria and give them the real reason for bringing back the SEC, which, as the Manager of Opposition Business said, is just a shell? It is getting to the point where people are starting to turn off because there is no end in sight. There is no way forward; we cannot see it. Our bills continue to come. The SEC is not working to bring our prices down, it is actually putting them up. The time has come where they need to stand up and speak the truth, to be honest with the people of Victoria and to tell them that this is not a policy that is going to bring clean, green energy to anywhere in the state at this stage, because all it is going to do is shut us down, and that is the way we need to –
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! The time has come for me to interrupt business for question time.
Business interrupted under sessional orders.