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News$700k worth of savings tips from the government
$700k worth of savings tips from the government

$700k worth of savings tips from the government

Tags: Energy Information
Last updated by Someone on

Unless you’ve been living under a rock lately, you would have noticed all the talk about energy prices. If you have been off the grid (pun intended), there’s no hiding from your energy bill, which will find you eventually. 

And so will the Federal Government’s latest $700,000 ad campaign!

Launched this month, the Powering Forward Campaign reportedly cost tax-payers $300,000 for 60 seconds of airtime during the AFL & NRL Grand Finals, and as much as $700,000 in fees to a Melbourne ad agency.

There's some useful information buried in there, but it's hidden behind propaganda pushing the government's energy policy credentials.

What do you think of the campaign?

Our take? The website contains some useful info for people wanting to save on power bills, for example it links to the Energy Made Easy comparison site and the Victorian Switchon site to compare offers.

It also contains energy efficiency tips for households, which can be handy.

But all that useful stuff is buried behind the silly “powering forward” slogan and some bumph about the Government’s Snowy Hydro 2.0 and gas reservation policies.

They’re important, but we’d like to see the moneysaving info up front and centre!

Here’s something else you can do to save.

A couple of months back, the Fiftyup Club started our Power-Up Campaign,  which now boasts a staggering 50,000 registrations nationally That tells us that you do want to do something about energy prices even if it’s just to send a message to power companies that enough is enough.

While Australia may rank second in the world for quality-of-life, we rate first in the world for the highest energy prices. Data from the Carbon + Energy Markets' MarkIntell service says we’re ahead of Germany, Denmark and Italy with 4 Australian states in the top ten (click here to see the list).

This despite Australia having every energy resource available in the world including coal, wind, solar, nuclear and sea-water hydro power.

What can you do? It’s as easy as picking up the phone, calling your energy retailer and asking for a better deal. Don’t take no for an answer. The energy market has never been so competitive and you can get results, with many members reporting savings in the hundreds of dollars.

Click here to see the latest Fiftyup Club energy offers, extended for a limited time only


 

 

Originally posted on .

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George
George from NSW commented:

I just voted in the poll "Are governments doing enough to control electricity prices? Yes or no?" and I voted for the "too early to tell'. The prices have gone up while we were under the federal labor party, we need to give Mr Abbott and the coalition time to undo what labor ruined while in office. The coalition has to clean up like the Howard coalition did. We will see and I DO hope that Mr Abbott remembers his promise. 

WILLIAM
WILLIAM from NSW commented:

They call it IPART; they have played a huge role in the electricity prices. The"I" stands for independent. Ha Ha. 

Alex
Alex from NSW commented:

One should check first the insured replacement value of the car when comparing the savings . Coles replacement value for a well kept 15 year old vehicle with a very low milage is far less than NRMA and that is why there is a substantial saving . Compare apples with apples . 

Robert and Marilyn
Robert and Marilyn from NSW replied to Alex:

You can increase the insured value if you wish & Coles price is still greater than the $100 they promise. 

Frank
Frank from QLD commented:

I hope that this club proves to be a genuine & trusted source of information, Help us to stretch our dollars to last for our years of no income. A lot of us will not have been able to accumulate a large enough super, to provide enough pension to live a decent life style. 

Ron
Ron from NSW commented:

Guys..Youre doing a good job. Lets look at Home and Conrents Insurance. YoY 2008 to 2009 with AAMI $794 steadily increased over the 2010 2011 2012 Now asking $1416 with no change to the property and contents What The?? By the way Ive never ever had a claim in 35 years? Whos winning here?? I recon there are many like me out there...Lets go! 

ANTONY
ANTONY from NSW commented:

I wonder how genuine this FiftyUp club is... Why no one want to openly admit that to get Coles insurance best price one has to disclose what is best offer is ! How genuine Coles insurance is if that is the way they trying to drum up business for them self's.. To me that looks more like stilling customers from other businesses even if is done in such a low manner .. If they are so genuine and concern about what we paying with someone else they should just name they BEST price regardless who is offering what...I think this whole set up is questionable including FiftyUp Club ...they selectively pick a mail and comment which will be shown to the other members ... not right ! 

Bill
Bill from NSW commented:

Did you know that drivers over 70 in NSW for the year 2011 (latest figures available) were involved in 3,807 crashes? Compare this with a total of 14,130 crashes for drivers aged 30 to 39. Even if you triple the crashes for the older drivers, it's still less than the younger group!! It's time insurance companies and others recognised that doing business with the oldies would be a wise move. More to follow at a later time. 

Shane
Shane from ACT commented:

Regardless of age, people need to remember that being licenced and driving is a privilege, not a right. With licences now being issued for up to 5 years, I think that it would be reasonable for all drivers to participate in a one day defensive driving skills program as part of the drivers licence renewal process. This would have a positive effect on collisions involving fatal or serious injury and should flow on to lowering insurance, registration and licence costs. 

Perrine - FiftyUp Club
Perrine - FiftyUp Club from NSW replied to Shane:

Great tip Shane! This would be a beneficial program for all drivers nation wide. 

Bill
Bill from NSW replied to Perrine - FiftyUp Club:

This would be great if it were possible, but it ain't. As a 40 year veteran in the business of road safety and post-licence driver education, I can tell you there are many reasons why this would never happen. Apart from those reasons, consider this: Does anyone really believe that politicians and bureaucrats who would be responsible for introducing such a program, put their own licences at risk through possible failure of any test? Regulations and fees have turned the activity of driving into a business for governments. Saying it is a privilege is no longer a valid point because of this. We all have a RIGHT to drive, but with that right comes a huge responsibility to ensure it is done with care and courtesy. A lot of people come up with well-meaning solutions that sound great, but are quite impractical. 

Frank
Frank from QLD replied to Bill:

I agree with you, I am inclined to believe that driving skills are not a big cause of accidents, It is I think more often irresponsible behavior, Treating the road like a private race track, Alcohol & drug use, mental issues etc. A driving test & training will not achieve much at all. 

Bill
Bill from NSW replied to Shane:

Sorry Shane, having a licence is not a privilege, it's a right from when people are eligible for one. However, with that right, comes RESPONSIBILITY 

George
George from NSW replied to Shane:

I believe that there should be Written Tests every 2 or 5 years to get your licence renewed. There is so much money around from Speed Cameras and such, THAT could pay for the retesting. I know that knowledge test is now done on computer and therefore easier. TOO many drivers out there have either forgotten the rules or only half sure and then there are the drivers who don't even understand simple rules because English is possibly their second or third language. One more thing, STOP allowing people to use interpreters for gaining a licence, learn English before they go for a test. 

Michael
Michael from WA commented:

My take on rising power bills despite reduced usage is this. The cost of power goes up so everyone cuts the amount of power they use. This reduces the profit of power companies, which they are never happy about, so they put the price up to bring the profits back up. So what do we do? We again cut our usage and the whole cycle starts again. 

Perrine - FiftyUp Club
Perrine - FiftyUp Club from NSW replied to Michael:

Hi Michael, thank you for this feedback! Hopefully we will be able to offer a competitive discount in the future on electricity in your area to compensate for any rises in electricity prices. 

Michael
Michael from WA replied to Perrine - FiftyUp Club:

Thanks Perrine. 

Frank
Frank from QLD replied to Michael:

There may be something in what you say, unfortunately motives of providers do not coincide with users. 

Michael
Michael from WA replied to Frank:

You're right Frank and I can't see them rewarding energy wise consumers in the near future. We forked out to install energy efficient lighting and use the "Switch Off and Save" strategy to cut our usage andwere rewarded with a higher bill. Go figure. 

Bill
Bill from NSW commented:

I used to think I was smart. But after contact with a lot younger people I have discovered that at age 70+ I know nothing. Particularly about driving, social behaviour, honesty and tolerance. The sooner many stores and organisations teach their personnel how to better deal with people, particularly the oldies, the better off they, their personnel and us will be. 

Frank
Frank from QLD replied to Bill:

Yes Bill, maybe you can remember how you and your peers thought about silly old codgers, when you were a young person. I like to remind young people that they will one day be old to. 

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