Anne Urquhart (Braddon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Climate Change and Energy. What progress is the Albanese government making on clean energy, and what are the risks?

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

I thank everyone's favourite member for Braddon for this question, and I thank her for her leadership in Tasmania. Yesterday the Prime Minister and I told the House that 44,000 Australians had installed a home battery under the Cheaper Home Batteries Program. Today I can tell the House that 46,052—

An honourable member: A big lift!

A big jump! Today 46,052 families have introduced cheaper home batteries to their households. And, just as the nation is getting on with the job of batteries, we are getting on with the job of the battery of the nation. The battery of the nation is the state of Tasmania. I'm pleased to announce and tell the House that today the Albanese government, the Allen government and the Rockliff government have reached financial close on the Marinus Link. The Marinus Link has been talked about for decades, and this government is delivering the Marinus Link. I want to thank Ministers D'Ambrosio and Duigan, the two state ministers who worked with me to make this a reality. This link will unlock billions of dollars of investment in Tasmania and will create enough renewable energy to power 750,000 homes right across Australia, creating jobs for Tasmanians in particular. That's a good thing.

The honourable member asked me about risks, and one of the risks is people who used to support transmission and support things like the Marinus Link who now say they oppose it. For example, I imagine the member for Hume welcomes the Marinus Link announcement because he once spruiked it. He once talked about the Marinus Link. In fact, in September 2021, he not only said his budget supported Marinus Link; he boasted it supported Tasmania's Marinus Link, VNI West and Project EnergyConnect—all projects they now oppose and promote rallies against. That's what they do now. That's a significant risk to the transition. If you can't actually believe in something, you can't actually follow it through. The member for Hume's defence is, 'Yes, I supported transmission lines; I just never built one,' which is a fair defence. They never actually got around to building one; they just talked about how good they were; they just kept announcing it. It's this government that is, today, announcing the next big step on the Marinus Link, and we'll continue to make progress.

The honourable member asked me about risks, and, again, we see more of the perfectly normal policy development on the other side. We've heard about the member for Hume. We've also heard from Senator Hume today, who took to social media to declare that she's not for turning when it comes to net zero. She's fully in favour of it and had to go to Instagram to point out that she's a member of the Liberal Party, not the Advance Australia party. At least she can make that claim; I'm not sure that all those opposite could make that claim. Senator Hume has been supported by the member for Flinders and Senator Bragg and others—and good on them for standing up for net zero; they're in a small minority. But, on this side of the House, we're going to keep going with the job of delivering for Australians with batteries, big and small.