Kate Chaney (Curtin, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to respond to the government's Annual climate change statement 2025. The government's statement calls 2025 a 'landmark year', and there has been progress. But, if we are to meet the new 2035 target of a 62 to 70 per cent cut on 2005 emissions, the pace of delivery must accelerate markedly over the next 10 years.

My speaking on this annual statement coincides with the launch last week of Curtain's pathway to net zero: progress report 2024-2026. Two years ago, 50 volunteers in Curtin collaborated on a significant piece of work, led by Claire Gardner from my team, setting out what it would take for our community to get to net zero and what was needed from federal, state and local governments and individuals. Last week, we released a report card showing how federal, state and local governments have performed in relation to our policy asks across electricity, buildings, transport, greening and waste. Looking at the annual climate change statement and our progress report on Curtin's pathway to net zero, there are some policies to celebrate from this year.

First is household storage and rooftop solar. The Cheaper Home Batteries Program has sparked a record surge in installations, with over 250,000 household batteries now installed. The government has now tripled the program, with the ambitious aim to take us to around two million batteries by 2030, about 40 gigawatt hours of distributed storage. This will make a real difference, slashing household electricity bills by an average of 90 per cent and reducing emissions. In Curtin, we're seeing the benefits. More than 1,500 batteries have been installed under the Cheaper Home Batteries Program. City Beach has now surpassed 50 per cent rooftop solar uptake.

Second is that we have now implemented policies for cleaner cars. After decades as a global laggard, Australia now has a new vehicle efficiency standard. This is already expanding the range of efficient and zero emissions vehicles on offer, with more than 150 models available as of mid-2025. Curtin is pulling its weight. We have more than 3,500 EVs on the road, placing my electorate in Western Australia's top position and among the top 10 nationally.

Third is nature protection. The Commonwealth finally legislated its EPBC reforms, which is an important start to improved environmental protection and accelerated construction for renewable energy projects. I was proud to contribute to these reforms with an amendment in the House and multiple amendments that were accepted in the Senate. These reforms also provide a stronger tool for cumulative urban biodiversity planning.

But there are areas where the federal and WA governments' actions are falling short. First is the electricity transition. Nationally, the statement points to more than 40 per cent renewables across the two largest grids and a Capacity Investment Scheme pipeline of 40 gigawatts this decade. This is a material step, but we're not moving fast enough. To unlock Australia's and WA's potential as a green industry superpower, not only do we need to decarbonise our current grid, but we also need to massively expand our generation capacity. This requires a huge uplift in the rollout and connection of renewable energy and storage in WA and on the east coast, and this uplift needs action at both the state and federal level. Western Australia's main grid, the SWIS, still lacks a legislated 2035 emissions target and a binding renewables target, and WA has comparatively less generation in the pipeline. The state did record a 55.8 per cent renewables month in November 2025, proving that high penetration is feasible even on an isolated grid, but isolated peaks aren't a substitute for year-round progress. The WA state government needs to step up. We need a clear transition plan for the SWIS.

Across Australia, there's no clear policy to support renewable rollout beyond 2030. Both the WEM and the NEM need policy signals to drive renewable energy and storage through a renewable energy target and expanded Capacity Investment Scheme and streamlined approvals. But there's an elephant in the room—new and expanded fossil fuels. Our community's Curtin net zero update gave fail grades to both state and federal governments on phasing out fossil fuels, noting that continued approvals and extensions, especially for export, undermine the credibility of all other action.

In relation to decarbonising our buildings, the decision by governments to pause residential NCC updates until mid-2029, except for safety and quality, may simplify short-term approvals but lock in higher bills and higher emissions for the next wave of homes. The statement cannot be considered complete without acknowledging this trade-off. Every underperforming home built in this pause period is a future retrofit job for a household already under cost pressure.

On transport, the transport and infrastructure net zero road map sketches the right pillars—electrify, shift to active and public transport, tackle embodied emissions and reserve low-carbon fuels for the hard-to-electrify niches. But without firmer funding and binding milestones, especially for mode shift, it risks becoming a plan on a shelf. In WA, the situation is worse. The state's sectoral plan offered only a token summary for transport and ended the EV rebate without a replacement.

On waste and packaging, we are still waiting. Curtin households are doing their part. FOGO is rolling out across most councils, yet the single biggest system lever, federal packaging reform, remains stuck between consultation and decision. Ministers agreed in 2022 that reform was needed. In 2024, the Commonwealth consulted on options, including mandatory design requirements and a national extended producer responsibility scheme. The consultation is done. The evidence is clear. It's now time for action. I'll explain my community's specific ask shortly.

Finally, while our community report did not look at industrial emissions in great detail, these form a significant chunk of our national emissions. In Curtin, industrial gas use is up, which reflects WA's broader challenge—growth in the gas sector wiping out gains elsewhere. On a national level, the safeguard mechanism has started to drive down emissions, but more will need to be done. The safeguard mechanism review commencing in the second half of this year represents a real opportunity here.

Looking at Australia as a whole, the department reports that emissions are down 29 per cent on 2005 and 2.2 per cent lower during 2025, with record renewable uptake. This is welcome, but the Bureau of Meteorology's Annual climate statement tells the other side of the ledger. It was Australia's fourth-warmest year on record, with record-hot seas and hydrology under stress. This is the test of the annual statement—whether the documents and policy announcements actually translate into reduced emissions at the pace the authority says we need.

In light of the annual statement and my community's recent report card on what our governments are doing, here is my wish list for the federal government for this year. Firstly, legislate packaging reform. We need a mandatory extended producer responsibility scheme, with certainty and consistency across the country, which places obligations on producers and importers to fund the recycling, reuse and disposal of packaging. We need mandatory targets for industry to accelerate reuse, recycling and composting of packaging. There have been voluntary targets in place, but these have not worked. There is clear appetite across industry and community for these targets to become mandatory. My community is also calling for a new target to reduce plastic and packaging. We can't recycle or reuse our way out of this pollution problem; we need less plastic coming into Australia.

Secondly, accelerate the rollout of renewable energy and storage. The government should seek to expand the Capacity Investment Scheme past 2027 in line with Climate Change Authority advice. It should also ensure that funding promised to WA for renewable generation, storage and transmission is delivered, and it should allocate funding to support the SWIS transition. Other policies to drive the rollout beyond 2030 should be considered, like an expanded renewable energy target across WA and the east coast.

Thirdly, improve the safeguard mechanism through the upcoming review. The safeguard mechanism is one of the central policies for driving our net zero transition. The 2026-27 review presents an opportunity to lower the threshold, expand coverage, improve the mitigation hierarchy, encourage best practice, disincentivise new polluting projects and safeguard our industries from international competition.

Fourthly, go beyond the new vehicle efficiency standard. The government must ensure that NVES is aligned with our national net zero by 2050 target. Importantly, this may require targets to decarbonise our light vehicle fleet even faster, giving time for heavy vehicles to decarbonise. The government should also introduce policy to start decarbonising our heavy vehicles. This is one of the largest emitting sectors that has no policy around it to drive emissions reduction. The government must also accelerate the rollout of EV chargers and continue to fund and support active transport.

Fifthly, drive decarbonisation of buildings through the National Construction Code.

The annual statement is a useful stocktake, but it shows how much more work is to be done. Our community is doing its part, and the Commonwealth must match that.

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