Image: Peter Dutton warns rising energy and cost-of-living pressures will lead to small businesses suffering. Photo credit: Sam Gillespie
Leader of the Opposition Peter Dutton visited Mackay last week for the first time since his appointment, welcomed to the region by Member for Dawson Andrew Willcox to visit local small businesses.
“We’ve been talking to lots of different businesses and the sentiment’s the same for me right the way up through the electorate,” said Mr Willcox.
“People are concerned about electricity prices; they’re concerned about the cost of living.”
Mr Willcox and Mr Dutton spoke to local business owners including Madeleine and Damian Connors of The Dispensary, where Mr Dutton proceeded to make a coffee under the watchful eye of barista James.
Mr Dutton said it’s getting tougher for businesses like The Dispensary to thrive with rising costs and added pressures.
“Cost of living continues to go up, it’s not just families but businesses as well,” he said.
“Let’s make sure that we have a sensible debate about energy in our country.
“I don’t want to see power prices go up and up and up under Labor and I certainly don’t want to see the lights go out because manufacturing jobs will go from our country, and they’ll be shifted offshore.”
Mr Dutton said more detail needs to be provided by the Queensland Government around the planned Pioneer-Burdekin pumped hydro scheme.
“There are families in communities where there will be resumptions that are really panicking now,” he said.
“They don’t know whether their future is secure, they don’t know whether their house and their property will be resumed, and the Premier seems to be able to provide no detail.”
Mr Dutton said Queensland has the lowest input of renewable energy into the network.
“We will support renewable energy and we need to have a serious discussion about how that energy is firmed up,” he said.
“If you don’t like coal and you don’t like gas and hydrogen is at least 10 years away, then what is the answer for firming up?”
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