Federal Member for Throsby Stephen Jones says families in households across the Illawarra and Southern Highlands will benefit from a reduction in the cost of living worth around $380 after the nation moves to a floating price on carbon emissions from July 1 2014.

This change will ease cost-of-living pressure on families in the region by $7.20 per week, while ensuring Australia continues to play its part in reducing carbon pollution, said Jones.

The impact will be greatest on electricity and gas bills.

The move is expected to save the average household around $3aweek, or over $150 in the year, on its electricity bills and around $1.10 per week, or $57 over the year, on gas bills.

More importantly, more than 11,500 households, 15,800 pensioners and 2,200 students in the region will continue to receive payments calculated on a higher carbon price and these benefits will be permanent.

It will also be a positive move for businesses in the Illawarra and Southern Highlands, said Jones.

For example, a large manufacturing business using 100 times the energy of a typical household could see the carbon component of electricity costs fall from $15,000 to $4000 per year, said Jones.

This will boost business competitiveness and help us transition from the mining investment boom toward a situation of more broad-based growth.

Moving quickly to a floating carbon price will allow Australia to meet its targets on emissions reductions at less cost to both businesses and households.

That is what both sides of politics promised in the 2007 election and, unlike the Coalition, it is still our position.