THE new Member for Monash, Mary Aldred, wasted no time testing her wings in Federal Parliament on Wednesday, July 30, the day after delivering an impressive first speech.
And she did so by addressing a question to the Prime Minister, no less, on an issue of intense interest to the people of Monash and Gippsland more broadly -energy.
“My question is to the Prime Minister. On July 22, 2025, the Prime Minister said Australian power bills were being permanently reduced. But Red Energy, Australia's fourth-largest energy retailer, has confirmed it will raise energy prices on Victorian families by over four per cent, hitting over 230,000 Aussies with another power bill increase of around $50. Why does the Prime Minister say things he knows are untrue?”
The Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Chris Bowen, fielded the query and started by offering his generous congratulations to Ms Aldred on her first question to the House.
After criticising the Opposition for failing to have an energy policy of its own, and being the subject of a point of order for relevance, Mr Bowen said the Prime Minister was referring to the potential savings from home solar and home batteries and from renewables generally.
“What to Prime Minister was referring to was the permanent energy bill reductions you get when you install a cheaper home battery under the Albanese Labor government's policy; 17,324 households across the country have done it. If you already have solar panels, it reduces your bills by $1100 a year on average, and if you don't have solar panels yet, $2300 on average, across the country, which is around 90 per cent of the typical bill.”
Having delivered her first speech to the parliament, Ms Aldred is now free to participate in debates on the floor of the parliament, to ask questions as she did on Wednesday and to make statements on behalf of the people of Monash.
