00:00Signed, sealed and delivering.
00:08Funding certainty for schools.
00:10I can now confirm the election will be in May.
00:13The Prime Minister's tying up some loose ends of the 47th Parliament.
00:18As his finance team prepares to hand down a pre-election budget deep in the red, unable
00:24to say when it'll be back in surplus.
00:27Well that remains to be seen, there's no doubt the budget's under pressure, it's under pressure
00:31from those key areas of health, NDIS, aged care, defence and managing the debt that we
00:37inherited from the Liberals.
00:39The Liberal's answer is to limit spending growth.
00:42A Dutton-led coalition government will restore those fiscal guardrails to try and get us
00:47back to a structural surplus or a structural balanced budget over the medium term.
00:53In the short term, it's promising its own power bill relief by getting more gas out
00:58of the ground.
00:59We will immediately, on coming to government, fast track approvals for gas because it's
01:03the only way to bring prices down sustainably.
01:05Can the coalition guarantee that energy prices will go down under your government in the
01:11next term?
01:12If you increase supply, yes, and that's what we intend to do.
01:14Australia has huge gas reserves in both offshore and onshore basins.
01:20About 70% of the gas extracted is exported, locked in long term contracts with energy
01:26hungry countries including Japan, China and Korea.
01:30But supplies for the domestic market are dwindling.
01:33Some states have banned exploration and it's keeping prices high for consumers.
01:39We have to ensure that Australian gas is actually benefiting Australians before we export it.
01:44Crossbenchers are calling for a West Australian style domestic gas reservation policy.
01:49Jackie Lambie demanding the Prime Minister prioritise the push over plans for new laws
01:55to shore up Tasmania's salmon sector.
01:58Talking about salmon instead of talking about reducing our energy bills in this country.
02:04That's what we're talking about.
02:05A stinking little fish tomorrow.
02:07After resisting the idea for years, gas reservations are now back on the political agenda with
02:12both sides eager to get more gas into the energy system.
02:17In the meantime, tomorrow's budget will extend power bill rebates for another six months
02:22to take the sting out of ever increasing prices.
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