Predictions of a 35% increase in power prices in 2023 once again demonstrate the treacherous folly of allowing Australia to be held hostage to international climate change ideology.

One Nation leader Senator Pauline Hanson said Australia’s rush to renewables had created the ludicrous situation in which one of the most energy-rich nations in the world was paying some of the highest energy prices in the world.

“What has all this supposedly ‘free’ energy from wind and sunshine brought us? It’s not cheaper power,” Senator Hanson said. “Since this began a couple of decades ago, power bills for Australian households and businesses have gone up by about 300% and we face actual shortages of energy in a country with some of the richest energy resources in the world. It’s unbelievable.

“This rush to intermittent wind and solar in Australia while shutting down cheap reliable coal-fired power stations ahead of time was supposed to help save the world from global warming, but it’s made quite literally no difference to global carbon dioxide emissions at all. That’s because human emissions account for about 3% of global carbon dioxide – and Australia’s share is barely 1% of that 3%. The sea level rise the catastrophists promised is nowhere to be seen, showing the modelling Labor and the Coalition use to justify their dumb policies is completely unreliable.

“The only difference is being felt here at home: households going poor as soaring power prices compound cost-of-living struggles, and jobs lost as Australian industries close down or leave the country – never to return – because they can’t afford the energy costs and remain competitive or viable.

“Say goodbye to Australia’s world-leading agricultural industries and get ready for China to be our grocer. With the introduction of smart meters, get ready for brown-outs when your electricity is shut off to stop you running an air conditioner. This is the future we face thanks to this disastrous energy policy: higher costs, fewer jobs and a standard of living and limited access to electricity comparable to countries in Africa.

“Australians households face an average increase in energy bills of $575 next year, while Labor’s energy minister tells an energy forum more renewables in the system will mean lower power prices. Chris Bowen is living in a fantasy land which ignores the reality of the energy disaster Labor and the Coalition created.

“Australians need to take control of their energy future. We need an independent energy policy which ignores international climate change zealots, and prioritises affordability and reliability.

“We need more coal-fired power, beginning with new plants in Queensland and South Australia. We need a ‘use it or lose it’ gas policy which ensures our domestic needs are prioritised over LNG exports.

“And we need to stop wasting billions of taxpayer dollars on subsidising expensive unreliable renewables – if these technologies are so desirable then let them compete on a level playing field without taxpayer support.

“A good start would be throwing the Paris Agreement in the compost heap along with Labor’s legislation for a 43% emissions reduction target by 2030. Let’s invest in a reliable, affordable energy future for a prosperous Australia.”