Mr DEAN ( Windermere ) - I will make a brief contribution and of course I support the bill. I just give some support to the member for Huon. I have no doubt that this bill would probably never have been brought in if it had not been for all the hype and all of the discussion about the 5 per cent capping of electricity prices. I think that really is what caused a lot of frustration and ill feeling. People were extremely taken aback by that, and that has caused a lot of this to occur.

In the second reading speech the Treasurer refers to wanting to keep energy prices as low as possible, and that is commendable because of course we want to do that. Electricity prices so far this year have been extremely high. In about January this year the average quarterly bill was about $250, on 1 July that average quarterly bill was about $325, an increase of about $301 annually, so there has been a huge cost increase rather than keeping the cost low.

It is an interesting fact and I raised it during the Estimates process, Madam President, that when we sell energy back into the grid through the system we get the lowest price for that energy of any State in this country, about 50 per cent below the other lowest State in the country so we really get nothing for it. A lot of people with solar energy are saying the same thing, that it is almost not worth putting any energy back into the grid. So you wonder what is going on in there as well.

The other issue I want to raise is disaggregation. I take it that that no longer applies here and the honourable Treasurer might want to touch on that later. As I understand it, the Government now are reconsidering whether or not it would be best brought back under the control of one body. Perhaps the Treasurer might want to comment on that.

Madam President, I just want to read a letter that I received, as other members probably did, from the Northern Suburbs Community Centre about the cost of electricity and its impact. The northern suburbs has a responsibility for the community in probably one of the lowest socioeconomic areas in the State, so it does have a lot of issues to work through. The letter reads:

'In some homes there is already the situation where people cannot meet their ongoing expenses due to financial constraints. In some cases many cannot afford to eat, keep warm and continue to meet living/accommodation costs.

As a volunteer at a community-run op-shop I was in the situation where an older member of the community shared her inability to pay her electricity bill and wanted to purchase a Thermos and hot water bottle in an endeavour to keep this bill lower. She also revealed that her kettle would only be boiled once in the morning, the thermos filled for later in the day, an extra blanket placed on her bed and that she would retire for the night with her hot water bottle at 5 p.m. These measures were also taken to help minimise her electricity usage. This was far from being an isolated incident and many older people indicated that electricity and rent were their main ongoing expense and regularly caused them stress. In a developed country the care of our older and vulnerable individuals should be a priority and it is heartbreaking to acknowledge that these people are in this position.'

That is a common position, Madam President, in the areas which I have a responsibility for and it really does make you very emotional to be called to a house, which I have been on several occasions now, asking for my financial support to allow them to be able to heat their home. It is a very distressing, very upsetting situation and position. I think people out there are just wondering where this is going to go at the end of the day. I certainly support this bill and the inquiry, and look forward to the result. Unfortunately, I do not think the public out there are going to see much let-off insofar as electricity costs are concerned.

The other situation, Madam President, that is currently happening is that a lot of people now are returning to wood and wood heater sales have really gone high, skyrocketed again, and particularly in the area of Launceston - an area where this Government and the Federal Government have given money to the Launceston Council and the council put in money to get rid of wood heaters, to help people get rid of them. Now they are putting them back in. How can you tell them not to? How can you convince them not to? You cannot. Again, they are just going to cause environmental issues and problems. So there is a huge number of other issues that emanate from this whole thing. It is a real concern, Madam President, but I certainly will be supporting this bill.