Get relief from high energy prices! National cabinet agrees on $1.5b energy price relief plan
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Household power bills have been a big topic of conversation lately, especially with reports that they could rise by as much as 30% next year.
This obviously puts a lot of financial strain on hard-working Australians who are already doing it tough due to the pandemic.
Thankfully, the national cabinet came together to discuss this issue and have come up with a plan to provide some relief.
At Friday's national cabinet meeting, plans were finalised for a $1.5 billion support package that will be paid through state and territory governments.
The money from this package will go towards reducing power bills for all Australians, starting in 2023.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said, ‘Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures.’
The first component of the relief plan is a $1.5 billion support package that will be paid through state and territory governments in order to provide support specifically to households and small businesses. This power bill relief will come into effect next year and though it's only temporary, it'll go a long way towards easing some financial pressure off all Australians.
The amount each state or territory receives will depend on various factors, such as their domestic gas reserve.
‘In Western Australia, for example, because of the Carpenter government having the vision, frankly, to make sure there are domestic gas reservations, then impact on price in Western Australia as well as the Northern Territory, ACT and Tasmania is less than the states which are at the heart of the national energy market,’ Albanese said.
The second component of the plan involves capping gas prices at $12 per gigajoule for one year through a mandatory code of conduct enforced by the Commonwealth government. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) will monitor this closely.
The government will also work with New South Wales and Queensland to implement a temporary coal price cap of $125 per tonne. This compensation will go directly to coal producers.
This price cap will hopefully ease some financial burden off small businesses that have been struggling.
We will continue to update you on any new developments in this story, but at the time of publishing, this is the information we had access to. So what do you think of the plan? Will it help? Or will it cause more issues in the future?
This obviously puts a lot of financial strain on hard-working Australians who are already doing it tough due to the pandemic.
Thankfully, the national cabinet came together to discuss this issue and have come up with a plan to provide some relief.
At Friday's national cabinet meeting, plans were finalised for a $1.5 billion support package that will be paid through state and territory governments.
The money from this package will go towards reducing power bills for all Australians, starting in 2023.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said, ‘Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures.’
The first component of the relief plan is a $1.5 billion support package that will be paid through state and territory governments in order to provide support specifically to households and small businesses. This power bill relief will come into effect next year and though it's only temporary, it'll go a long way towards easing some financial pressure off all Australians.
The amount each state or territory receives will depend on various factors, such as their domestic gas reserve.
‘In Western Australia, for example, because of the Carpenter government having the vision, frankly, to make sure there are domestic gas reservations, then impact on price in Western Australia as well as the Northern Territory, ACT and Tasmania is less than the states which are at the heart of the national energy market,’ Albanese said.
The second component of the plan involves capping gas prices at $12 per gigajoule for one year through a mandatory code of conduct enforced by the Commonwealth government. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) will monitor this closely.
The government will also work with New South Wales and Queensland to implement a temporary coal price cap of $125 per tonne. This compensation will go directly to coal producers.
This price cap will hopefully ease some financial burden off small businesses that have been struggling.
We will continue to update you on any new developments in this story, but at the time of publishing, this is the information we had access to. So what do you think of the plan? Will it help? Or will it cause more issues in the future?