One of the reasons why Cowper MP Luke Hartsuyker is getting less media cover?

These days one usually finds Federal Nationals MP for Cowper, Luke Hartsuyker, almost exclusively reported in the regional press. Rarely is he appearing in national media, particularly when it comes to his 'carbon tax' utterances.

One has to suspect that most of the mainstream media now see him as a political ranter.

On 30 March 2012 Mr. Hartsuyker told The Northern Star that:

ELECTRICITY costs may rise up to 20 per cent with the introduction of the Federal government's carbon tax..

Three days later on 2 April 2012, he sent out a media release which stated:

Federal Member for Cowper Luke Hartsuyker has welcomed calls by the Energy Users Association of Australia (EUAA) to address the power price hikes which are hurting Australian households and small business….

The report found that over the next three years power prices are forecast to rise by an another 30 per cent and the carbon tax is a primary reason for this increase..

The Coffs Coast Advocate reported his second assertion on 4 April 2012:

Mr Hartsuyker said in a media statement that a report tabled by the Energy Users Association of Australia (EUAA) found that over the next three years power prices are forecast to rise by an another 30 per cent and the carbon tax is a primary reason for this increase.

Now the Energy Users Association of Australia (EUAA), whose membership is primarily business and industry, did produce a March 2012 report titled A report to the Energy Users Association of Australia - Electricity Prices in Australia: An International Comparison.

However, the report makes no direct mention of the carbon tax and although it does foreshadow a 30 per cent increase in retail electricity prices by 2013-14 it also clearly and repeatedly states that it relied on Australian Energy Market Commission (AMEC) calculations for this figure.

In relation to residential electricity supply AMEC itself unequivocally states:

The retail component is expected to increase by 30 per cent with a carbon price factored in (compared with 26 per cent without) in nominal terms at a national level over the projection period.

Which means that pricing carbon is expected to increase the national nominal cost of retail electricity by 4 per cent over the next two years, not the 30 per cent touted by the Member for Cowper.

Both EUAA and AMEC point to the cost of replacing aging infrastructure as a significant contibuting factor in total projected electricity supply price increases to the average householder.

With EUAA pointing out that around three-quarters of all expenditure incurred by Australia’s electricity network service providers is capitalised and AMEC stating distribution costs (sub-stations, transformers, meters, poles and wires) are expected to contribute 33.6 per cent to the total projected national increase in 2013-14 residential electricity supply costs to consumers – with this projected increase rising t o 36.1 per cent  in NSW.

Electricity transmission network pricings are not set by the federal government but are decided by an independent body, the Australian Energy Regulator (AER).

Mr. Hartsuyker is not stupid – he know all this. So why is he issuing such self-serving and misleading media releases?

Ah, yes, of course – he is one of Tony Abbott’s foot soldiers.