Renee Coffey (Griffith, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Climate Change and Energy. How are the Albanese Labor government's policies to deliver more renewable energy, backed by batteries, helping Australians? What policies would threaten this progress?

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

I thank my honourable friend for the question. It was of course in her now electorate that the Prime Minister and I announced the Cheaper Home Batteries policy during the recent federal election campaign. It was a great day—although the member for Griffith and I were both wearing Cheaper Home Batteries T-shirts, and the combination of renewable energy and a T-shirt would be particularly triggering for the Leader of the Opposition! But I digress.

I am happy to report to the House that, since we announced that policy, 104,900 Australians have introduced a cheaper home battery into their house or their small business. That's 104,900 households and small businesses that are reducing their bills and their emissions. It's a similar story across the country. Again, I'll update the House on AEMO's quarterly figures, which were released today, that show the highest renewable penetration in quarter 3 in Australian history and energy prices down 27 per cent, year on year, and 38 per cent, quarter on quarter, in a wholesale term. This is good progress. It is good step forward, with much more to do.

The member for Griffith asked me what policies might threaten this progress. Of course, we've been seeing a lot of them over the course of this week. The member for Wannon released a bit of a policy update in the House during the week. He said that his approach as energy minister would be to sweat the coal assets for longer and he called for us to keep the coal-fired power stations working harder and longer, apparently unaware that as of today there are 11 separate coal-fired power units out of action, broken down, not working—3.6 gigawatts. These are unreliable units. They are now the biggest threat to reliability in our energy system, and those opposite want to see them working longer and harder. We want to see appropriate investment to see them replaced, to see them in due course, in an orderly transition, replaced with new energy for the future, so that those communities that have powered Australia for so long can power us into the future.

Of course it's a big day for the opposition tomorrow. They will be having their big meeting, their big love-in, their big briefing about net zero. We had a contribution overnight from the former Treasurer, energy minister, home affairs minister, health minister and industry minister of the Morrison government in one LinkedIn post by Scott Morrison, saying that they should move away from net zero. This just shows us that the Liberal Party hasn't changed. The man who stood at this dispatch box and held up a lump of coal is now telling them that it's okay to move away from net zero. They haven't learnt. They haven't got the memo from the Australian people or from the 104,000 households that are getting on with the job. I'm sure another thousand households tomorrow and another thousand households on Monday will install a cheaper home battery with support from the Albanese Labor government.

We are transitioning this economy and this energy system to make it fit for the future, while those opposite are stuck in their denial and delay.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Before I call the member for Durack, the member for Lyne interjected eight times during that answer. She's warned, and I'm sure she won't do any more interjections—I hope.

Melissa Price (Durack, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Science) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Climate Change and Energy. On Tuesday, the minister made a commitment to Australia's heavy industry saying, 'I can guarantee that we will ensure that energy policy is designed to ensure the supply of cheap and reliable energy.' But today the CEO of the Chamber of Minerals and Energy WA warned that electricity costs are on 'an unsustainable trajectory, preventing expansion activities in a region that is experiencing booming interest in both gold and critical minerals.' Minister, is this really what a future in Australia looks like?

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

I thank the honourable member for the question. I'm sure the Chamber of Minerals and Energy and the honourable member support everything this government has done in recent weeks to support the mining industry in Australia and critical minerals in the great state of Western Australia, with the Prime Minister's leadership and the leadership of the Minister for Resources. They're engaging in proper international diplomacy, engaging in proper interactions with our key trading partners. That's what a future made in Australia looks like; proper investments and a proper calibration of industry and energy policy, as well as foreign and trade policy, to ensure that our great critical minerals that have so much capacity to power not only Australia but also the rest of the world—we have a periodic table of minerals under our earth. We have nine out of the 10 minerals necessary to make a battery in our country. We think that's a good thing, and we want to see more of those minerals exploited and more value added in Australia. We want to see batteries made in Australia and minerals processed in Australia.

That's our vision; your vision is stuck in your 10 years of denial and delay, while you're arguing tomorrow about whether climate change is real and whether humankind has anything to do with it and whether governments should even bother to try. That's why you are out of office now. You are showing the Australian people continually that you are not fit for modern government in Australia.

Justine Elliot (Richmond, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Health and Ageing. How will the Albanese Labor government's record investment in bulk-billing make it easier to see a GP for free, and how will the investments that kick off this Saturday make a difference for Australians after a decade of cuts and neglect?

Mark Butler (Hindmarsh, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Richmond. For more than 20 years in this place, she has been one of the strongest voices for better health care for regional Australia. We're soon going to be able to announce together the location of the new Medicare urgent care clinic in the Tweed valley, which I know she is looking forward to enormously.

Like everyone else on this side of the House, at least, she's also looking forward to this Saturday, because 1 November is going to be a red-letter day for health care in this country. On 1 November we're listing the fourth contraception on the PBS in just 12 months. After 30 years of not a single addition, this is four in just 12 months. On 1 November, as the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government said, new Medicare rebates are going to save around 300,000 women $400 to access contraceptive IUDs and implants. On 1 November, as the member said, the largest investment in bulk-billing in the history of Medicare kicks off. It's an investment that's good for doctors and it's an investment that's obviously, and most importantly, good for patients.

The reason the member for Richmond is such a strong supporter of this investment is it's particularly good for regional Australia.

David Littleproud (Maranoa, National Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What about Maranoa? They've got nothing.

Mark Butler (Hindmarsh, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'll talk about Maranoa. This week a standard bulk-billed consult in a beautiful town like Ballina gets about $42 from Medicare. Next week it will be $82. That's from $42 to $82 in one week. I do wonder, where are the Nationals, if it's so good for regional Australia? Where are the Nationals, I wonder? They stood by and did nothing when Liberal's, led by the Leader of the Opposition, ripped the heart out of Medicare by freezing the Medicare rebate, and it's the same story today. What about the leader of the National Party? There are 27 clinics that are going to be fully bulk-billing in Maranoa next week, but what do we hear from the Leader of the Nationals? Nothing. The member for Flynn up there, he's been pretty chatty over the last couple of weeks—he has 22 clinics going to bulk-billing next week. There are crickets, absolute crickets, from the member for Flynn and the chatty member for Fadden, who has 22 clinics as well—absolute crickets! They talk non-stop about everything except health care, everything except bulk-billing, everything except cheaper medicine. That's alright by us, because we've got even more members on this side representing regional Australia, and they're willing to fight for bulk-billing. They're willing to fight for the power of this beautiful little card, and they're willing to fight for a stronger Medicare.

Kevin Hogan (Page, National Party, Deputy Manager of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You're running scared!

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Page, on that note, can leave the chamber because he was on a warning. A warning is a warning.

The member for Page then left the chamber .

Richard Marles (Corio, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.