Justine Elliot (Richmond, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

I'm very pleased to be speaking on this matter of public importance. I know this is an issue that the member for Wentworth is very committed to, and I note her commitment in the speech that she just gave. It is also an issue that those of us on this side of the House are incredibly passionate about. It drives many of the policies that we put in place. We put them in place because we know that renewable energy is the cheapest form of energy. That's why we're investing in nation-building initiatives such as Rewiring the Nation and the Capacity Investment Scheme. It will futureproof our grid.

This is on top of the whole suite of measures that we have right across the board, from that massive investment to assisting households to enable them to take up the many benefits of renewable energy, particularly in terms of reducing their power prices. We're doing that because ours is a government that is committed to transitioning to renewable energy. We are, of course, at the same time also providing important cost-of-living relief for Australian families, because we do understand how difficult it is at the moment, particularly with power bills, and we do have our energy relief plan, which is very targeted.

Part of the suite of measures which we have brought in means supporting households, small businesses and community facilities to utilise renewable energy by providing them with incentives which lessen their power bills. All of these initiatives working together are so incredibly important, and the cost-of-living measures that we've introduced are vitally important at this time.

We have a very strong commitment to all of these measures. Particularly when we look at that in contrast to the Liberals and Nationals, it's a very big difference. We saw a decade of inaction when they were in government, and all we've seen them do in opposition is vote to make power bills higher for families and refuse to support action that will actually assist families. That's why our action in government, investing in longer term plans to get cleaner, cheaper energy to all Australians, has been vitally important, and we do that because we believe in the absolute potential of renewable energy. We know it's so important. It's also something the country voted for. People wanted to see action on climate change. They wanted to see more initiatives across the board to deliver more effective renewable energy. I would also add that, in regions like mine, this action is so important for the great economic potential and jobs growth it brings. This is an issue that we feel incredibly passionate about.

I'm very proud of all the action we've taken. We've legislated Australia's target of a 43 per cent reduction in emissions by 2030 and net zero by 2050. We've supercharged the offshore wind industry and delivered the $20 billion Rewiring the Nation investment to decarbonise our grid and to take us to 82 per cent renewables by 2030. We've put a whole range of measures in place. There's also been so much other action in our recent budget. There's the $1 billion to the Clean Energy Finance Corporation to turbocharge financing options for household energy upgrades, to upgrade homes with battery-ready solar PV, modern appliances and other improvements. This will help more than 100,000 households lower their energy bills. There's the $300 million to support upgrades to social housing and the $310 million for the Small Business Energy Incentive, which supports more efficient use of energy. There's also the $100 million for the Community Energy Upgrades Fund to co-fund upgrades with local councils so they can be more energy efficient in all the wonderful services that our local councils provide. There's been an incredibly positive response from all of our councils in relation to this particular initiative. This whole suite of measures is about giving Australians a choice to take actions that will suit their homes and their businesses to reduce their energy bills. This is on top of other initiatives, like our rollout of community batteries and helping Australians buy cheaper, cleaner electric vehicles.

There's a whole range of measures that we've brought in since we've been in government, particularly because we know how important it is after the decade of inaction by the previous government. The Liberals and Nationals failed to take action when it came to investing in renewables and failed to take action when it came to addressing climate change. Look at their record. We saw 20 failed energy policies when they were in government. It seemed every other week they were rolling out another policy, each of which failed and had nothing in it. They've voted down every initiative we've put forward to create energy relief.

There has been one policy they've brought up whilst in opposition: nuclear, yet again. That's all we hear from them. Here we go! It's their only approach to energy relief. In my community and in many communities, people are completely opposed to nuclear. They've said that many times, and they're opposed to it for many reasons. One is that we know it is far too dangerous and far too expensive, yet those opposite keep rolling out this idea. They have no other plans and no other initiatives after a decade of inaction. There are many reasons why nuclear power would be bad for our country, particularly the cost. The fact is that even a small modular reactor would cost a massive $5 billion to build. They'd need at least 80 of those around Australia, so it would be incredibly expensive. I'd really like to know where the Liberal and National parties plan to put all these nuclear reactors. We know they need to be near water, which is one of the reasons communities like mine are very much opposed to nuclear. Essentially, this is the only policy we've heard from the Liberals and Nationals of late, and they have rejected all of the really proactive policies that we've put forward. I can tell you the community is opposed to nuclear, yet those opposite keep rolling out the same old idea.

What is so disappointing is that during the wasted decade of inaction they could've been investing in the cheapest form of energy, in renewables. They could've been doing that the entire time. Imagine how much further along we would be if we'd had that decade of investment, but they didn't do that. It's taken a Labor government to do that, and we are very proud of all the actions that we've taken. So many communities that have suffered over many years, particularly rural and regional communities, now have the opportunity to unlock their economic potential and jobs growth because of that investment.

Action on climate change is something we are absolutely committed to. We've made that commitment for many years and have taken it to many elections. We are following through and we're very proud we're following through on this very comprehensive set of measures in terms of our investments there—from households to councils, providing a huge investment in supercharging our renewable capacity as well as providing, at the moment, important relief for those people who are struggling with their power bills. We are delivering on that commitment because we're really focused on transforming Australia's economy to a low-carbon economy. But we know that it takes a massive investment to do that, and that is something that we are doing. We really need to make sure that our country is positioned to become a renewable energy superpower. You can see in our budget all of the commitments that we made to save Australians money on energy bills and to invest in nation building new industries.

And we need to be making sure that all those communities and households are getting all of the assistance that they can. I mentioned before some of those programs that will absolutely assist households, small businesses and as many in our community, through our local councils, get those really important energy upgrades. At that level it's so vitally important that we have ongoing investment. There has been a really positive response to our plans in terms of what we've announced. Many small businesses have spoken to me about it—many households as well. And, as I say, many councils are really pleased that we are doing that at that real grassroots level to assist people. You need to provide the incentives for people to do that. You have to have the commitment and provide the incentives, and we have been doing that in our budget and doing that very proudly. So there is a lot of opportunities moving forward, and a lot of people are very positive about that.

In addition to those targeted household rebates, which are so vitally important, providing energy bill relief, our recent budget is funding a whole range of plans to ensure that those households and communities can take advantage of the savings from smarter energy use. It's all part of ensuring the nation is absolutely ready and prepared to capitalise on this global boom in clean energy investment. As a government, we're incredibly proud of that, and I know there are many who share our commitment to this as well. We will, obviously, keep working together to that aim in terms of ensuring that we can totally embrace all the renewable energy opportunities right throughout our nation into the future.

It's important for our economic future. It's important in addressing climate change. It's very important in addressing our power bills as well. There are a whole range of initiatives, and they are ones that those of us in the Albanese Labor government are incredibly proud of—all the action we are taking to date.

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