Labor wants power rebates kept as price increase looms
The state opposition has urged the Crisafulli government to reverse its position and retain electricity price rebates, saying their removal will make the cost-of-living crisis worse for struggling Queenslanders.
Treasurer David Janetzki has confirmed the Miles government's $1000 electricity rebates will be scrapped in his first budget later this month.
The scrapping of the rebate was last month cited as the primary reason Brisbane's 1.9 per cent first-quarter CPI increase far exceeded other capital cities.
Labor Opposition Leader Steven Miles, who introduced the rebate last May when he was premier, said the LNP had promised lower power prices before the election – a promise that was set to be broken.
'[Now-Premier David Crisafulli] promised Queenslanders that energy prices would be lower and he promised that energy rebates would continue for so long as they are experiencing cost-of-living pressures,' he said.
'On October 3, he said 'so my commitment to Queenslanders is that energy will be cheaper under the LNP'. They're his words.'
Miles was referring to Crisafulli's promise during the election campaign that 'energy will be cheaper under the LNP because we have a plan to drive down the ongoing costs'.
'Queenslanders see the difference between a political party promising everything before an election after 10 years and not doing very much, and a united and fresh opposition that is promising long-term relief by fixing the underlying issues that are forcing up power prices,' Crisafulli said at the time.
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