A video of billionaire Elon Musk‘s reaction to the cost of power in Australia has resurfaced as Aussies battle soaring bills.
The footage shows a clearly stunned Musk after being presented with domestic electricty prices.
‘Wow, really?’ he said in disbelief when told that power was becoming a ‘luxury item’ for many families.
The interview was filmed in 2017, but has resurfaced this week.
‘I didn’t realise it was that expensive. Australia has so many natural resources that even if you go the fossil fuel route, electricity should be very cheap,’ he says.
His shock turned to sadness when he was told many people were worried they would not be able to turn on their lights or cook food.
‘I did not expect that,’ he said, his voice wavering, before pausing several seconds and promising: ‘We’ll work harder.’
The clip of Musk from 2017 has been widely shared on social media this week and attracted a flood of comments.
One person said: ‘Yes, our country should be as wealthy as China but our politicians couldn’t run a bath let alone a country.’
A second said: ‘The govt should be taxing the mining companies like they do in Northern Europe! It’s insane that we don’t benefit more from our resources.’
While a third added: ‘Our water and electricity are insanely over priced.’
Another said: ‘We’re run by a bunch of glorified tax collectors.’
‘We have so so much land here but our real estate prices are ridiculous expensive,’ a fifth said.
A TikTok video explained how Australia produces the most lithium in the world, around 46 per cent of the world’s supply. Lithium is used in dozens of everyday items, included laptops and phones
In March it was revealed that Australian households in four states will face steep electricity price hikes in the coming months as the country’s energy regulator flags rises of up to 31 per cent.
Victorians will see their bills going up by almost a third while NSW, Queensland and South Australia also facing steep hikes.
The Australian Energy Regulator on Wednesday released its draft default market offer – essentially the maximum price that energy retailers can charge residential and small business customers – for the 2023/24 financial year.
Victoria’s Essential Services Commission did the same for that state and signalled a whopping 30 per cent increase in household electricity prices and 31 per cent for small businesses.
Musk was moved to tears when he was told that many people were worried they wouldn’t be able to turn on their lights or cook food
This would see a typical household bill would rise from $1,403 to $1,829 per year, while small businesses could expect an increase from $5,620 to about $7,358.
Around 400,000 Victorian households and 55,000 small business customers are on that state’s default offer, according to Commission.
For NSW, Queensland and South Australia the Australian Energy Regulator flagged price increases of between 19.5 and 23.7 per cent.
Default offers for residential customers in NSW were expected to increase by between 20.9 per cent and 23.7 per cent for small businesses.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers announced energy rebates in the recent Federal Budget in an attempt to support Aussies struggling with the cost of electricity.
In 2021, Daily Mail Australia revealed that two of Australia’s biggest energy companies are owned by Chinese investors.
Energy Australia, which has 1.7 million customers, is owned by the China Light and Power Company after being sold off by the NSW government for $1.4 billion in 2011.
And Alinta Energy, which has 1.1 million customers, was sold by its private owners to Chow Tai Fook Enterprises for $4billion in 2017.
Although neither Energy Australia or Alinta distribute electricity, both are energy generators and retailers, owning crucial assets such as coal power stations, solar power fields and wind farms.
Alinta Energy’s assets include the Braemar Power Station in Queensland, the Wagerup Power Station in Western Australia and the Loy Yang B Power Station in Victoria.
EnergyAustralia’s infrastructure includes the Cathedral Rocks wind farm in South Australia, the Tallawarra gas station in NSW and the Yallourn coal station in Victoria.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk
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