Kara Cook (Bonner, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Climate Change and Energy. How is the Albanese Labor government delivering a cleaner, cheaper and more reliable energy system for Australia? What are the impacts of Labor's delivery on Australian households, and how does this compare with previous approaches?

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. What a difference the member for Bonner has made in just the short period she's been here. I'm happy to inform the House: 219,750—that's how many cheaper home batteries have been installed since 1 July, around a thousand more than this time yesterday. That's the sort of embracing of cheaper, cleaner energy we are seeing right across Australia, particularly in rural and regional Australia. Forty-two per cent of the cheaper home batteries that have been installed have been in rural and regional areas. People in these areas know that what's good for the planet is good for their pocket. New data out today from the Clean Energy Council shows how important this is for the grid in reducing prices—not just for those who have the battery but for everyone. Interestingly, as many Australians installed a home battery in the last six months of 2025 as in all the entire five years previously. That shows good policy in action.

Of course, this comes, in terms of the broader context of the last quarter, with renewable energy hitting record highs—

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

The member for O'Connor is now warned.

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

and the AEMO connection scorecard showing a record 64 gigawatts of new supply in the pipeline.

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

I just put the member for O'Connor on a warning, and then, Member for O'Connor, you interjected straightaway. That means you'll leave the chamber under 94(a) as a consequence of your actions. If you get warned and you interject straightaway, you're definitely going to leave the chamber. It's pretty straightforward. The Minister for Climate Change and Energy will return to the question.

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

As I was saying, we saw a record 64 gigawatts of new energy supply in the pipeline and, just in the last quarter, 1.8 gigawatts of new generation reach the position where it's connected to the grid.

Now, the honourable member asked me how this compares to previous approaches. We know that, under the last government, we saw four gigawatts of dispatchable energy leave the grid and only one gigawatt come on. Compare that to all the new energy supply that's coming into place now. It's a direct result of policy. Of course, one of the consistent features over the last term of office was that, between 2018 and 2022, the minister for energy was the member for Hume. We saw a 'Taylor made' energy crisis in this country. We saw disaster after disaster when it came to energy policy. The opposition has been saying a lot about government expenditure and how government expenditure is too high. The member for Hume announced a $1 billion investment in new energy. Do you know how many kilowatts it delivered to the Australian energy system? Zero. Call me old fashioned, but I reckon, if you're spending $1 billion, you'd want to see at least a watt of energy. When we came to office, my incoming government brief told me that Snowy Hydro was running about two years late, but the member for Hume had hidden that fact from the Australian people. Then we had the member for Hume's famous investment in coal fired power, the Collinsville coal-fired power station feasibility study. He announced $4 million and then, two days later, invited the successful proponent to apply. Not only did we not see a coal-fired power station; we didn't even see a feasibility report. It's a tough week for the Leader of the Opposition, but, if the member for Hume is as confident in leadership challenges as he was as energy minister— (Time expired)