Via The Australian:
Malcolm Turnbull is facing pressure from both sides of politics to establish a royal commission into retail electricity pricing, with the Greens to table a bill for a wide-ranging inquiry amid a push by Coalition backbenchers for the Prime Minister to launch an investigation into the conduct of power companies.
The Greens will seek to introduce a bill for a commission of inquiry into “excessive profiteering” and the “failure” of deregulation and privatisation.
A senior Labor source confirmed last night the opposition had not ruled out launching a royal commission if it won government, bolstering the chances of the Greens securing Labor support for the proposed inquiry.
Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack told The Australian a royal commission did not have merit “at this stage”.
The prospect of an inquiry into retail pricing yesterday received early signs of approval from crossbenchers including Stirling Griff, Tim Storer, David Leyonheljm and Fraser Anning.
Bring it on. But retailers are only the tip of the iceberg. The one major cause of the last decade of power spikes is the $160bn of misallocated capital into the wider power system. Half of that was by the government-owned distributors which gold-plated networks owing to perverse pricing incentives and the other half was the Curtis Island LNG white elephant that generated an artificial shortage of gas.
Any RC that does not include the distributors of power and suppliers of gas is a complete waste of time.
