Chris Bowen (McMahon, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change and Energy) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Menzies for his question, and I'll get straight to the point: 38,921. That's how many cheaper home batteries have been installed in Australia since 1 July. That's how Australians—regional Australians, in particular—respond to clear policy direction from the Australian government.

I told the House yesterday that the member for Gilmore has the biggest take-up in New South Wales. The member for Indi has the biggest take-up in Victoria. The member for Wright has the biggest take-up in Queensland, the member for Canning has the biggest take-up in Western Australia—getting on with the job of the transition to net zero—and the member for Mayo has the biggest take-up in South Australia and, in fact, the biggest take-up of cheaper home batteries in Australia. This is, as I said, how Australians respond to clear policies.

The honourable member asked me if there are any alternative approaches. I'm glad he used the plural. I think that was a very well-worded question because we are replete with alternative approaches to the question of climate change from those opposite, and that's just the leadership group. We saw, in the Liberal and National party room this morning, a push to get straight to abolishing net zero. Senator Canavan said they shouldn't wait for the Canavan review. He wants to get straight on to abolishing their support for net zero. He said on Sky News last night that net zero is 'a great socialist plan'. He is on to us! It's about time somebody stood up to those socialists in the Morrison-Joyce government who embarked on the policy of net zero. I'll convene an urgent meeting of Socialist International to discuss this matter. We're just waiting on the availability of Boris Johnson, Theresa May, Friedrich Merz, Angela Merkel and the two-thirds of Australian companies that are dedicated to net zero. We're waiting on their availability. Then we'll have a meeting.

In the Liberal party room, the leader of the Liberal Party in the Senate said there's no time to waste to abolish net zero. I saw it on Sky News. It must be true! You shouldn't deny it. It's on Sky News all day, that Senator Cash has led this charge, trying to keep up with the leader of the National Party, who went to the conference on the weekend to undermine the Leader of the Liberal Party, who said they're out of the coalition unless they have their way.

What we have is two parties, one coalition, and many, many ways of killing net zero, and all that leads to net zero plan for the future of Australia—net zero plan for Australia's regions, who are relying on the Australian government to deal with the challenges of climate change and the impacts of drought and flood, net zero plan for Australians who need the jobs of the future to be created by a sensible plan to achieve net zero, which the Morrison-Joyce government once believed in. That's the replete alternatives we have from those opposite. Meanwhile, the Albanese government and Australian households—38,921 of them—get on with the job. (Time expired)

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