STEPHEN JONES:
We're all back in Canberra today and we've got a very important job of work to do. This is a team Australia moment and it appears that Peter Dutton has decided he's not on team Australia. There's a job of work to be done to pass bills through the house, which are going to provide relief to households and to businesses struggling with cost of energy price increases. We know they'll get worse if this bill doesn't pass through the house. Absolutely critical for households. Absolutely critical to businesses. In my own electorate, lots of manufacturing businesses are sweating on the outcome of Parliament's deliberation today. We've got to do gas, we've got to do electricity, we've got to get all of this package of bills through Parliament because if we don't, households will suffer and jobs will be lost. It is as simple as that. So this is a call out to Peter Dutton, are you on team Australia or are you on a different team? We've got to get the job done. Australia is relying on everybody to do their job today. It would be much better if we entered the Parliament with one voice and we all said, we're going to back households, we're going to back businesses, we're going to get this bill through the Parliament today and we're all going to do it together. So the question is for Peter Dutton, are you on team Australia or are you on a different team?
JOURNALIST:
Peter Dutton says that he will back the bill if the Government is willing to split it. Is that something the Government is willing to consider?
JONES:
Let me tell you the problem with Peter Dutton's solution. It's not a solution. It sacrifices manufacturing jobs in electorates like mine, because right now you've got manufacturing businesses around the country trying to secure a contract for gas which is absolutely critical to their production. Unless we get these bills through the Parliament this day, those contracts are going to be based on highly inflated prices. It means jobs. So Peter Dutton has got a very clear choice. Are you on the side of Australian manufacturing jobs or are you going to play political games? There is no option to split these bills.
JOURNALIST:
Peter Dutton criticised the Government again on handing over the legislation at 8.45 last night. Why was there such delay? Was there - was it political, playing political games or is it more of a case of making legislation up on the fly?
JONES:
There has been long consultations with the crossbenchers. Peter Dutton has been invited to participate in consultations. There's been a consultation draft of the legislation available. Peter Dutton has known for quite some time what's going on here and he made a decision quite some time ago that he wanted to play politics instead of playing team Australia. So the question for Peter Dutton is, why are you playing games when there are jobs and households who are relying on us to vote as one and get this job done?
JOURNALIST:
At the end of the day how important is it for the average Australian household to get this through today?
JONES:
This will mean the difference between energy bills going up and up and up and jobs in manufacturing businesses if we do not get this done. So this is about ensuring that we are able to bring energy prices down and ensure that manufacturing businesses around the country can continue to operate and that households have some chance of dealing with the skyrocketing costs of their electricity bills.