Kate Thwaites (Jagajaga, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

One of the consequences of the war in the Middle East and the international fuel crisis has been that it has demonstrated to us the importance of having secure power sources here at home. Fortunately for Australia, we have sun, wind and hydro power opportunities in abundance. We are able to build more reliable sovereign renewable energy—homegrown Aussie solar, wind and hydro. These are opportunities our government is leaning into.

Just this weekend, we announced the largest renewables boost in the history of the national electricity market—19 new wind, solar and battery projects across New South Wales, Queensland, Tasmania and in my home state of Victoria. That's enough to power four million homes with cheaper, cleaner and more reliable energy. Of course, this investment comes on top of our incredibly successful Cheaper Home Batteries Program. There are now more than 400,000 of these batteries in homes in suburbs and regions right across Australia, helping households to get their power, and to get it in a more reliable and cheaper way.

I have had the pleasure of visiting a number of homeowners who have recently installed cheaper home batteries, including Andrew in Diamond Creek, Liz in Cranbourne and many more. They tell me that they are so pleased to now be able to control their power bills and have this sense that they know that they will have this secure power source and that their power bills are coming down as a result of this investment they've been able to make with our Cheaper Home Batteries Program. I've had pensioners and others on fixed incomes say to me that it means they're not worried about bill shock in the way that they were before. They can see the future. These people can see the energy transition that is underway in Australia, the energy transition that the Albanese Labor government is supporting households, communities and businesses to make in Australia. They see this benefit from cheaper bills and more reliable power.

Of course, this is the future that our government is building in our communities, in our households and across our country. Unfortunately, those opposite are focused on the past—in particular, in this case, it seems, in bringing back dirty coal. The Leader of the Opposition, who, as the energy minister under previous Liberal governments, failed to secure our energy future, is now doubling down on dirty, expensive energy. After wasting nearly a decade in government arguing against climate change and failing to invest in the transition to reliable sovereign renewables, the opposition leader was then part of an opposition that was pushing an expensive nuclear fantasy before it finally abandoned net zero. They have now moved on to say that they want to keep dirty, expensive coal running for as long as possible.

Make no mistake, when the Leader of the Opposition says that he will work with coal-fired power station owners to keep plants running harder and longer, what he is really saying is that he wants to drive up household energy bills and drag Australia into the climate wars of the future, because coal is dirty and coal breaks down. Our ageing coal-fired power stations break down, and that means they are more expensive. It means that household electricity prices are more expensive. So, after failing to do anything when he was the energy minister—after failing to secure Australia's energy supplies, after being part of a then opposition that doubled down on nuclear as a solution and being roundly told by the Australian people that it wasn't—the Leader of the Opposition is now offering up dirty, ageing coal as the expensive solution to Australia's power needs. We then have One Nation pushing conspiracy theories instead of real solutions and flying around in planes bankrolled by billionaires and mining magnates.

At a time when communities across Australia are already experiencing more frequent and severe natural disasters due to climate change, this approach is reckless and irresponsible. It is not the approach of a credible or a viable alternative government. It is wrecking. Those opposite continue to divide and seek to double down on dirty power. On our side, our government, the Labor government, is getting on with the job of providing Australians with clean, reliable, sovereign, renewable energy. This is a fantastic opportunity before us. It is one our government will continue to support Australians with so that we have the opportunity to power our future.

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