Labor minister wrongly claims Liberals didn’t support $300 power rebate
Soofia Tariq
April 22, 2025
WHAT WAS CLAIMED
The Liberals opposed the 2024 $300 energy bill relief rebates.
OUR VERDICT
False. The Liberals supported the passage of the $300 rebates for households through parliament.
AAP FactCheck – Education Minister Jason Clare has falsely claimed the Liberal Party did not support Labor’s $300 household energy bill rebates in 2024.
However, the Liberals supported the passage of the rebates through parliament.
Mr Clare made the claim on Sky News as the election campaign heats up around increasing power prices.
“It was 300 bucks cheaper last year than it otherwise would have been because of those rebates that Peter Dutton voted against,” Mr Clare said (timestamp one minute 10 seconds).
Sky News host Laura Jayes interjected: “Hang on the coalition put those in, hang on, the coalition has backed those, so that is bipartisan on those rebates”.
However, Mr Clare stated again: “The $300 rebate last year, the Libs voted against, right, they opposed it”.
He continued: “You can make your own mind up about why they’re choosing not to oppose the 150 now, but the fact is they voted against that rebate last year.”
The $150 Mr Clare is referring to is the extension in the subsidy Labor has promised if re-elected, which the opposition has stated it will not oppose, according to ABC reporting.
Labor made the same claim about the coalition opposing the $300 rebates in a campaign advert.
When AAP FactCheck asked Mr Clare’s office for evidence of his claim, they referred to a Guardian Australia article from 2022.
The report refers to the coalition opposing the government’s legislation to spend $1.5 billion on payments to reduce household and small business energy bills.
In December 2022, the Albanese government recalled parliament to establish the Energy Bill Relief Fund, which would be paid through the states to Australians on income support and other federal social services programs and small businesses.
The legislation also placed a temporary cap on coal and gas prices, which the government estimated would save the average family $230 in power bills.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton told media at the time that the coalition opposed the bill because it did not support placing a cap on the price of gas and coal.
“If they split the Bill, we’re very happy to support the element which provides relief to families and to businesses,” he said.
However, this did not happen, and the bill passed without the support of the coalition.
In the 2024 federal budget, the government announced it would be extending this rebate with an additional $300 energy bill relief for households.
This was contained in what’s called an Appropriation Bill, which approves the government’s budgetary spending.
The coalition did not oppose this bill, with parliamentary records (13:09:40) showing no division was called in the House of Representatives, meaning it was not challenged.
Footage from the Senate vote (18:11:05) also shows the bill passed with no audible objections, officially passing both houses on June 25, 2024.
Prior to this, Mr Dutton said the coalition would support the $300 payment in his budget reply speech in May 2024.
“Let’s also be clear about Labor’s $300 energy rebate which will cost the economy $3.5 billion. We will support this relief because we know Australians are hurting,” he said, while also criticising Labor’s energy policy.
Mr Dutton also expressed disapproval that the rebates weren’t means tested, according to reporting by The Guardian.
So, while the coalition opposed the initial creation of the relief fund in 2022, they supported the $300 updated support payments in 2024.
AAP FactCheck is an accredited member of the International Fact-Checking Network. To keep up with our latest fact checks, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, BlueSky, TikTok and YouTube. (AAP)
