Nationals Member for Euroa Annabelle Cleeland has criticised the Allan Labor Government’s continued ploys to ban gas appliances, raising the matter in parliament this week.
Labor recently tried to sneak through a consumer gas appliance rebate ban by quietly publishing it in the government gazette, avoiding both consultation with the industry and a debate in Parliament.
The ban will prevent any appliance company from providing a rebate or support to a Victorian family for the replacement of a gas appliance with another gas appliance.
This is despite almost 60 per cent of gas appliances being made in Australia and less than 5 per cent of electricity appliances being made in Australia.
The gas appliance industry supports over 4,000 direct jobs in positions ranging from engineering to manufacturing, as well as several warehouse and retail roles.
Ms Cleeland said Labor’s consistent efforts to ban gas are set to have a profound impact on regional households.
“It’s cruel that Labor’s ideological rules will hit many of our most vulnerable families when they can least afford it,” Ms Cleeland said.
“Regional Victoria is set to be disproportionately impacted by the shortsighted and city-centric transition, leading to higher energy bills and unreliable power supply.
“We know that many of our regional communities are only fitted with gas options for heating, cooking, and their water.
“Removing gas options in these houses will only put further pressure on our electricity supply that has already crumbled under the slightest bit of pressure over summer.
“I’m all for the responsible transition to renewables, but how are our already struggling communities meant to survive when there are no alternatives.”
After power outages left much of the region without electricity earlier in the year, AusNet research found that electricity only households were saddled with significantly higher costs than those who had gas connections as well.
Electricity only customers spent on average $1,100 to respond to an outage over Christmas, whereas if they had gas connections too, that amount was reduced to just $360.
