Letter to the editor – More Victorians seeking energy bill assistance

Now more than ever, Victorians are needing help to cover their power bills.

Recently released figures have shown a 40 per cent rise in the amount of people seeking assistance to pay their gas and electricity bills compared to this time last year.

These figures followed a recent St Vincent de Paul Society report that revealed Victorians have paid 22 per cent more for gas and 28 per cent more for electricity over the past year.

Victorians are paying the price for Labor’s inability to secure the state’s energy supplies and their ongoing ideological attack on gas.

Gas remains an important source of energy and will be for some time, particularly in our regional communities.

With renewables not yet able to support Victoria’s energy needs, the region’s electricity supply unreliable at best, and coal-fired plants being decommissioned, Labor’s attack on gas in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis is making life more difficult for regional Victorians.

Annabelle Cleeland MP, Member for Euroa