Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question without notice is to the Minister for Climate Change and Energy, and I refer to Labor's disastrous solar sharer program. Senior energy analyst Saul Kavonic has slammed Labor's thought bubble as 'another poorly thought-through market intervention' and warned, 'The window of free electricity during the day will have to be offset by higher prices at other times to cover the fixed costs.' Minister, how much will other electricity users have to pay to subsidise this folly?

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

Thanks to the member for the question. I think I do need to advise the honourable member, my friend, that he could have found a better expert than that. Last I saw that individual, he was cutting videos against me in the seat of McMahon. That is how impartial he is to support an independent candidate in McMahon. I am not sure he is the sort of person I would be quoting. Maybe you could have quoted the chief executive of the Climate Energy Finance, who said, 'This is excellent, Minister'.

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

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

It doesn't take much to trigger them. You mention 'clean energy' and away they go. Yesterday, we mentioned the Business Council of Australia and that set them off. You can't win. We had Bran Black, the chief executive of the Business Council of Australia, former chief of staff to Dominic Perrotet, the Liberal premier of New South Wales, and they said he is not credible. Now I quote the chief executive of Climate Energy Finance, who said, 'This is excellent, Minister. This means many more consumers will benefit from free power at zero cost to the market, a massively incentivised demand load shifting to the middle of the day'. Or Stephanie Bashir, a private sector advisory company, who said, 'This policy will incentivise consumers to move their energy consumption to cheaper times of the day, that is good for their bills and good for the network. Crucially, it will force big energy to fix their systems and to innovate.' Or—this will set them off; I apologise in advance, Mr Speaker—Solar Citizens CEO Heidi Douglas, who said this 'is a great start—it's smart, fair policy that helps renters and apartment residents tap into our rooftop solar advantage'.

But enough of organisations; let's go to individuals' feedback on the government's policy. Paul Mitchell, who we saw on social media, said:

This is a fantastic initiative by the government. It just makes sense. We have panels and a battery. Over a year we export two thirds of the power our roof generates. It's good that some of that excess power we export will be used by others. Particularly people in units and who don't have panels yet.

We agree. We agree with Paul Mitchell. This is a good thing. Tiffany Meek said:

This is policy that genuinely helps the poor and the disadvantaged. It's policy for the Aussie battler, for stay-at-home parents, for the elderly, and for people living with disability.

Shall we go on? Fran Pearce said:

Thats an excellent option. One thing we have a lot of in Australia is the sun. Great to share the excess energy, especially until battery storage improves.

This is how Australians who understand the energy market, people who actually participate in it, whether they be chief executives of groups or individuals who participate in the energy market, understand that this is actually a policy in the best interests of Australians. (Time expired)