Prime Minister Anthony Albanese threw down the gauntlet to the Opposition before Thursday's debate on the energy relief legislative package, telling supporters on social media:
""Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine has caused massive price spikes around the world. And a wasted decade of opposition to renewable energy has left Australia vulnerable to these global shocks.
"It’s clear that we can’t just stand by and wait for prices to fall. We’re acting to keep Australians in work, to support families and to secure our energy future. Our Energy Price Relief Plan will shelter Australians from the worst of the current storm - and build for a better future on the other side.
"A temporary cap on coal and gas prices on the east coast will make sure Australian families and businesses get the benefits of our resources."
Leader of the Opposition Peter Dutton told Flow on Friday:
"There are two elements to the package, one is providing financial support which we were in favour of. The second one is a price cap which we are not in favour of because it doesn't work anywhere in the world.
"As the CEO of Santos has pointed out yesterday this is the stuff that you see in somewhere like in Venezuela or in a communist market. A price cap on beef or wheat or lithium or gas just doesn't make any sense. It will actually result in a perverse impact where ultimately people are going to pay more for their electricity because of this bill.
"We wanted to split the bill in two and support the assistance package, the government didn't want to do that because they were playing politics, that's the Prime Minister's wont and they have the numbers in the parliament."
Hear the full interview with the Liberal leader Peter Dutton on the Flow podcast player:
On Thursday night the finance minister launched this broadside on the Coalition:
Emergency Management minister Murray Watt was on the attack on Friday morning, linking the Opposition's rejection of the whole package on market intervention grounds to opposing cost-of-living relief:
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