Claire Clutterham (Sturt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Climate change is a complex and multifaceted problem. It requires an ambitious and effective national strategy for emissions reduction and the development of clean industries underpinned by renewable energy. Substantial investment is needed. Although it will create new social and economic opportunities in all sectors and regions, it will need to be sustained over the long term. Mitigating the effects of climate change and the transition to renewable energy will not just happen overnight. We need to prosecute this and we need to be patient. We can't just say, 'Prices are too high, so the transition has failed.' We need to take risks and we need to recognise that risk is not only about what could go wrong but what could go right. We need to continue investing, researching, exploring and walking together when risks don't always crystallise immediately.

We cannot let perfect get in the way of good, and we cannot continue to have unproductive and time-wasting debates about whether climate change is real. At the same time, we cannot engage in debate that overstates the effects, paralyses the population and predicts the immediate demise of the planet. We need to have a balanced discourse which recognises that climate change is real, recognises the role that humans and industry have played in contributing to that, and listens to and respects the contributions of individual communities, businesses, health practitioners, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and government.

If we overstate the risk and infect the debate with drama rather than science, people will stop listening. Conversely, if we understate it or dismiss it, communities and Australians will suffer. The balance based on science is where we need to be, and there is community support for prompt yet patient action that is designed to repair and protect our planet, noting that Mother Nature is a relative, not a resource; prompt yet patient action that protects economic livelihoods; and prompt yet patient action that invests in new technologies and new industries which underpin tomorrow's economic prosperity. Addressing climate change will take time and patience. There will be setbacks. The transition to renewable energy has not failed. To the contrary, the failure is arguing that we should scrap aspirational targets, scrap net zero and just rely on coal and gas because the transition is taking too long, or hasn't already brought retail prices to where some would like them, or requires substantial investment over a significant period of time. To say that would be to fail the Australian people who have asked governments, industry and communities to act on climate change.

In my electorate of Sturt, climate change and the environment are second only to cost of living in terms of issues people talk to me about. We know that climate change is in fact inextricably linked to cost-of-living issues. This government is listening, and we are seeing results. In my state of South Australia, we are leading the way. We've been at the forefront of the global energy transition. Since 2009, we have lifted net electricity generation from renewable energy from one per cent to 74 per cent. In this financial year, the Australian Energy Market Operator has forecast this to rise to circa 85 per cent. In SA, our aspiration is to achieve 100 per cent net renewables by 2027, and we are on our way. In 2021, for example, we met 100 per cent of our operational demand from renewable resources on 180 days; or 49 per cent of the time. This has provided a certain investment climate which is critical to the private sector, with over $6 billion of investment in large-scale renewable energy and storage projects to date, and a further $20 billion in the investment pipeline.

In South Australia, we are just getting on with it by focusing on large-scale renewable energy generation and storage, such as wind, solar batteries, pumped hydro, compressed air and thermal storage. We're focusing on distributed energy resources such as rooftop solar, bioenergy and batteries. We're focusing on energy efficiency and demand management; the uptake of zero-emission vehicles and investment in charging and refuelling infrastructure; supply chain development of low-carbon technologies; and research and industry partnerships in low-carbon technologies. Recently HAMR Energy announced an intention to construct an $800 million sustainable aviation fuel facility in South Australia, creating jobs but also drawing on our vast agricultural resources and helping the aviation industry decarbonise. Having spoken two weeks ago at the GreenSkies Summit at Qantas headquarters in Mascot, Sydney, I can say confidently that the aviation industry is on board with the need to decarbonise.

Thousands of South Australians are also on board, including the thousands in my electorate of Sturt who took advantage of the Albanese Labor government's Cheaper Home Batteries scheme. This scheme works. In November last year, Don, a resident of Sturt, wrote to me and said:

All good here in Beulah Park. We have reached net zero at our house thanks to the battery your government organised. This is a house built in the 1800s which now has the latest technology attached. No power bill here. Thank you very much.

Don is part of the 250,000-plus households across Australia who have partaken in this scheme. We are seeing Cheaper Home Batteries bring down the cost of batteries. Battery availability is helping to regulate evening demand, reducing our reliance on expensive gas and helping bring down bills for everyone. Don and the 250,000-plus other households are leading the charge, and Sturt is leading the charge as well, being third in the country for the uptake of the government's solar battery scheme. Solar sharer is also enabling more Australians to benefit from the transition to renewable energy, whether they are in a position to have solar power or not, including those in South Australia, from July this year.

But we know that energy prices are still too high. In the last quarter of 2025, wholesale electricity prices fell by a third, but this needs to flow through to retail bills. That remains the challenge that we need to meet. It is right that the wind and the sun don't send a bill and that unreliable coal-fired power plants do, but it's also right that, even though the wind and the sun don't send bills, the other pieces of the energy puzzle do, including energy companies and the capital works involved in the construction of the infrastructure required to generate renewable energy, as well as transmission and distribution networks. This is where investment is required and where the work is required to bring down bills.

Bid pricing on the national electricity market is also relevant, which is why in November 2024 the government announced a review of the national electricity market wholesale market settings by an independent expert panel in order to investigate ways to promote investment in firmed renewable energy, with a key priority being addressing price volatility and making bills more stable. The review noted that action to benefit the consumers who pay for energy was critical, including by considering updating the methodology for regulating retail price benchmarks such as the default market offer, considering supporting the development of simple, multi-year, fixed-price retail contracts and considering reforming network tariff structures to ensure that they are more equitable and better aligned with wholesale market dynamics. Again, patience is required in this respect.

So there is work to do, but it doesn't just start today. The Albanese Labor government has been working on a just and fair transition since it came to government in 2022, and it will continue this work to ensure that this country continues to embark on a prompt yet patient transition that reflects our highest possible ambition, grounded in science and underpinned by credible contribution to global efforts to keep warming down and supporting a safer and sustainable environment for future generations. Aiming for net zero is the bare minimum to avoid the worst impacts of global warming. Australia reducing its emissions is something that matters to our future, our economy and our standing in the world. With patience, we can make the transition while still protecting livelihoods. With the best wind and solar resources in the world, we can become a top global destination for clean energy investment.

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