Julie-Ann Campbell (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I did have a speech written, but I believe that the member for New England's speech deserves a bit of a change of plan from me. The member for New England said the idea that we can change the climate—the idea that we can do anything or that Australia should stand up and do something when it comes to climate change—is a 'swindle'. He said it was a 'swindle' and he said it was 'insane'. The member for New England is the real swindler when it comes to climate change. He's trying to swindle people into believing that batteries and storing energy won't make energy cheaper, but what we know is that it will. He's trying to swindle Australians into believing that nuclear energy is the great panacea, the thing that can get them there when it comes to climate change and saving money and energy, but we know that it won't. The member for New England is trying to swindle us with the idea that he put forward—that you have to be a believer for the climate to affect you. I can assure you that, whether you believe in climate change or whether, like the member for New England, you don't believe in climate change, it is coming and we must do something about it.

The member for New England said that we are alone. He said that Australians should sit on their hands when it comes to this because we can't do anything about it. Well, I disagree. When it comes to climate change, we don't get to put our heads in the sand—or, should I say, we don't get to lie on the concrete. We don't get to lie on the concrete when it comes to climate change. We don't get to lie on the concrete when it comes to the economic opportunities in renewables and batteries, or to paving a way forward for the future. We don't get to lie on the concrete when it comes to the future of our young people. We don't get to lie on the concrete when it comes to making sure that we leave behind a world that is better than how we found it.

When it comes to energy and climate change, we cannot ignore the economic impacts. We cannot ignore the fact that climate change not only poses a very real threat to our environment and to our way of life but also poses a real threat to our economy. And not only that: my local electorate of Moreton, on Brisbane's south side, has faced some significant natural disasters this year. We've seen a flood, we've seen an earthquake and we've seen a cyclone. My community can't afford those things. My community is incredibly resilient and incredibly helpful to each and every person who needs it when they need it. But my community deserves better; we deserve resilience, and the bedrock of that resilience is always making sure that we are taking action when it comes to climate change.

That doesn't mean that we don't have to invest in community outreach and in ensuring that, on the ground, we help people with preparedness and resilience for their homes, their local sporting groups and our local community organisations. But it does mean that, as a government, we also need to pull the levers that we have, to ensure that we are tackling climate change and addressing the energy challenges that we have. That's why we have set that ambitious target of 62 to 70 per cent when it comes to our path to net zero.

There has been a lot of discussion—a lot of words, and a lot of talk—about energy and energy policy. What those opposite seem to have forgotten is where they stand on this. Those opposite had collective memory loss when it comes to energy policy, because they, the coalition, are the villains of the energy story of this country. It's worth reminding them what they have done when it comes to energy policy. What have we seen? We have seen a decade of energy policy uncertainty, a costly and fanciful nuclear plan that wouldn't happen for another 20 years and would cost billions and billions of dollars, and an internal crisis of faith in net zero unfolding before our eyes.

It's also important to remind people what the opposition has been doing for these last six months while we've been in government. The Nationals and the Liberals had a bit of a beef at the beginning, and the Nationals took a break from that coalition relationship. After that, we saw the member for New England recently say: 'You know what? This is too chaotic for even me, and I'm out.' We have seen, over the last couple of days, the Nationals say, 'No, we are not up for net zero'—and, so far, silence from the Leader of the Opposition on this incredibly critical issue that will impact industry, homes, community groups and the future of our young Australians.

While the coalition has been in complete chaos, in complete disunity and a complete shambles, the Albanese Labor government has been investing. We know that, when it comes to energy, what we need, what people need and what business needs is reliable, sustainable and affordable energy. The reform of the energy market is what this is all about.

Australia's energy market is rapidly changing. The Australian Energy Regulator, in its State of the energy market 2024 report, surmised a wide range of factors which illustrate this. This includes the drive towards renewable energy. Rooftop solar is now the fuel source with the highest registered capacity across the national electricity market. Consumers are enthusiastically adopting rooftop solar, batteries and electric vehicles, becoming an integral part of Australia's transition to net zero. People in my local community are taking up batteries, and we know that people from across the country are taking up batteries because they know batteries are an important way to drive a sustainable energy outcome as well as affordable electricity. We know that because we've seen over 100,000 people take up batteries. Other factors include volatile wholesale prices and changing demand, with record low minimum demand in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania but record high maximum demand in Queensland.

The energy market can be affected by weather and outages at both generator and network levels, and there has been legislative reform to include emissions reduction in the national energy objectives. Energy is so important. It's important to industry, to households and to our local services. These factors indicate why the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Australian Energy Regulator Separation) Bill 2025 is absolutely necessary. It resolves some longstanding issues with the current governance arrangements for energy regulation in Australia, and, crucially, positions the sector for the future.

The AER has been operational for 20 years. It is one of three major market bodies that oversee the national electricity and gas markets in Australia. The Australian Energy Market Commission develops the rules for market operations, the Australian Energy Market Operator controls the day-to-day operation of the markets and the AER has the role of monitoring compliance with regulations and performance. Each agency supports the Energy and Climate Change Ministerial Council to develop and support Australian energy policy.

The AER regulates electricity networks and gas pipelines in all states and territories, including Western Australia. This translates to about 800,000 kilometres of overhead electricity, lines and underground cables, servicing about 11 million customers. The gas pipelines are over 73,000 kilometres long and provide gas for more than 4.3 million customers. The key role of the AER is setting the maximum amount of revenue that electricity and gas providers can earn.

The other important role the AER has is to help consumers make informed choices about which provider supplies their energy. Fundamentally, it protects consumers from prices that are too high and approves customer hardship policies, amongst other safeguards. At a time when the cost of living is impacting so many, Australians deserve protection from prices that are too high. At a time when the cost of living is affecting so many, Australians deserve to have a safeguard in place from government. As the AER states:

Consumers are at the heart of everything we do.

The AER works to ensure energy consumers have access to a reliable and secure market and that they pay no more than necessary for energy to their homes and businesses.

You can see that the AER has a comprehensive and wide-ranging mandate. It was established in 2005 under the umbrella of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. Its initial budget, in 2004-05, was $6.5 million. In 2023-24 the budget had grown to more than $95.6 million. The organisation has seen rapid growth in the number of employees as well. When it began, there were 15 staff. It now has a staff of approximately 400.

It has been acknowledged for some time that, due to both the wide-ranging remit of the AER and its growth, the current governance structure is not fit for purpose, and we need to fix that. This bill therefore establishes the AER as a standalone Commonwealth entity separate from the ACCC. The reforms will give the AER authoritative control over both its funding and its employees. While the chair of the ACCC is formally tasked with leading, governing and setting the strategic direction of the broader entity that includes the AER, it is the AER's independent board that ultimately holds responsibility for these functions. This is an obvious disconnect between authority and accountability.

The bill amends the Competition and Consumer Act 2010. It establishes the AER as a non-corporate Commonwealth entity for the purposes of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013, and the AER board will become the accountable authority of the body. The necessary approval to amend the Competition and Consumer Act was granted by state and territory energy ministers in May 2023. The implementation of the bill recognises the need to maintain the independence of the AER. Consequently, the Minister for Climate Change and Energy will not have ministerial powers over the AER. The minimalistic approach to this separation guarantees that the ACCC and its constitution are not affected. Both entities will continue to benefit from the information-sharing arrangement currently in place. Importantly, staff will not be disadvantaged in any way by the reforms. The AER will transfer all existing staff and be able to employ its own staff moving forward.

There are numerous benefits to these reforms. Primarily, they set the AER up to be more agile in the face of changing energy landscapes. They make decision-making and governance more streamlined, eliminating duplicate decision-making. And they remove the dual ministerial responsibility for the AER's activities. Currently the Minister for Climate Change and Energy has portfolio responsibility for the AER, and the Treasurer has responsibility under finance law that pertains to the ACCC. Finally, these reforms remove the government risks that currently exist. They will end the governance of AER employees by the ACCC so the AER becomes independently responsible for both its strategic direction and its employees.

The reforms in this bill have been backed by stakeholders and experts for some time. There have been a number of public reviews recommending an autonomous AER. In 2015 the review of governance arrangements for Australian energy markets recommended establishing the AER as a standalone body. This was reinforced in 2017 in the Independent Review into the Future Security of the National Electricity Market. This review also noted that information sharing, liaison and cooperation should be preserved after structural separation.

This bill is focused primarily on making sure we reform the energy market. But what sits behind it is our values as a Labor government. What sits behind it is the idea that when it comes to climate we cannot sit on our hands and do nothing. We must take action. Not only that: we need to make sure that, when it comes to energy policy, energy is affordable and reliable for every Australian, for every business and for every household, and that is what this bill is all about.

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