Confirms Queenslanders are paying the highest wholesale power prices in the country

 

A damning new report has laid bare serious failures by the Palaszczuk Labor Government that have resulted in Queensland’s wholesale electricity prices remaining the highest in the country.

The Auditor-General’s Report into Energy has raised serious questions about Labor’s ability to operate Queensland’s energy system after nearly a decade in office.

The report’s findings include:

1. Queensland’s wholesale electricity prices are the highest in the country
2. A major IT project has blown out by more than $700 million
3. The IT project incurred a $43 million write off because a component was “no longer expected to deliver benefits”
4. The Auditor-General has directly linked project blowouts to reduced cost savings and financial returns to Queensland
5. A termination payment was made not in accordance with policy
6. Confidential data was not being properly secured

Shadow Energy Minister Pat Weir said these failures are driving up Queenslanders’ electricity bills in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis.

“Families are paying more for power because of Labor’s chaos and crisis,” Mr Weir said.

“The Palaszczuk Government has failed to properly manage Queensland’s electricity network and now families are paying the highest electricity prices in the nation.

“The report raises so many serious questions that Labor must answer.

“In a stunning revelation, a Government IT project has blown out by more than $700 million since its initial $238 million budget in 2016.

“The blowout also includes a $43 million write off for ‘components of the project that were no longer expected to deliver benefits’.

“The Auditor-General has outlined scathing failures that make a mockery of good governance in this State, including a termination benefit paid not in accordance with Government policy.

 “Labor’s Mick de Brenni needs to be open and transparent with Queenslanders and explain how much and to who the termination payment was given to.

“Mick de Brenni also needs to tell Queenslanders who was given access to confidential internal systems and whether Ministerial offices were given inappropriate access.

“Most of all, the Premier and Mick de Brenni needs to take urgent action to lower power prices for Queenslanders who are doing it tough in a cost-of-living crisis.”