PRIVATE MEMBERS' BUSINESS
Mr WATTS (Gellibrand) (13:01): Point Cook, in my electorate, is known for a few things. It's Australia's biggest suburb and Australia's most multicultural suburb. It's the No. 1 postcode in Australia for internet shopping, and, of any suburb in Australia, it has the second-highest uptake of the Albanese government's EV discount.
Residents of Point Cook know a bargain when they see it. EV discounts are one of the myriad of ways that this government is building a cleaner, cheaper and more reliable energy system in Australia. Let's look at the progress.
Over the past year, Australia's emissions have fallen by 9.7 million tonnes. The decline has been driven by more renewable energy, cleaner cars and practical emissions reduction. In this year's budget, we announced that we are supporting the single biggest boost to Australia's main energy grid, with new renewable energy projects, and by 2030 these projects will supply enough electricity for four million Australian households.
We've also been delivering the Albanese government's Cheaper Home Batteries Program. Through this program, Australian households, businesses and community organisations can get a discount of around 30 per cent on the upfront cost of installing a range of small-scale battery systems. Under the Cheaper Home Batteries Program, more than 400,000 households have installed a cheaper home battery.
Around half of them have also installed new or upgraded their solar systems at the same time, and they can recharge an EV with their solar systems. In my community, 1,600 households have already made the switch using the subsidy. Many of these households have slashed up to 90 per cent off their energy bills, and we've already had over 20,000 solar panel installations in my electorate, in Melbourne's west.
Australians want cheaper, cleaner energy, and we're taking up renewables faster than anywhere else in the world is. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the adoption of electric vehicles. We have supported Australians into cheaper-to-run cars through the Treasury Laws Amendment (Electric Car Discount) Act and the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard Act.
The electric car discount is a full exemption from FBT for EVs under $75,000, pushing car companies to offer more affordable choices. Almost 100,000 vehicles have already benefited from an FBT tax exemption. On top of that, we've discounted EVs further by making them fully exempt from import tax.
Our government's new vehicle efficiency standard incentivises car companies to supply more efficient vehicles, and this includes hybrid, plug-in hybrid and more-efficient petrol and diesel vehicles. Last month, the sales figures showed that 30 per cent of cars sold in May were electric or plug-in hybrid. More Australians bought EVs in the last quarter than in any previous quarter.
Under the coalition government, Australia was missing out on access to these choices, putting us in the same basket as Russia for fuel efficiency standards. Under the last government, we were the dumping ground for expensive cars that the rest of the world just didn't want. Four years later, our reforms mean that it's now cheaper than ever to make the switch to electric, and we're seeing the consequences of our reforms.
When we came into office, Australians bought an electric vehicle once every 45 minutes; now it's once every two minutes. The share of new vehicles sold which are electric or plug-in hybrid has jump started, from under two per cent in April 2022 to 27.5 per cent in April 2026. In that four-year window, Australians went from buying 29 EVs every day to buying 515.
Put simply, the total number of EV models available in Australia has nearly tripled in that period of time. My community has done even better in those four years. We've experienced 453 per cent growth in hybrids and 2,482 per cent growth in EVs.
Consider all of this growth that we've experienced: this happened after the previous government did nothing on EVs and left Australia's renewable energy policy empty, on a dead battery. Since 2022, the Albanese government has not only caught up, but has completely recharged renewable energy policy in Australia. It's quite extraordinary sometimes to listen to those opposite talk about EV policy.
They seem to really hate Australians getting a bargain and reducing their costs, if it comes through an electric vehicle. It really is extraordinary to listen to. But, if you vote against these EV discounts, you're voting against people in my community saving money.
You're voting against helping them in this cost-of-living crisis. For those in my community, those reforms mean cheaper cars and more off your energy bill. EV models available for under $40,000 have grown from just two in 2022 to more than 10 today.
It's no wonder there's been this 2,482 per cent growth in EVs in my electorate in Melbourne's west—in an outer suburb in Melbourne's west—and it'll only go up from here. It's all part of our government's plan to address the immediate cost-of-living pressures our community is facing, at the same time as we deliver support for Australian families. Unlike the coalition, the Australian people know that what's good for the planet can be good for your pocket too.
I'm proud of a government that's embraced Australia's clean energy advantage. I'm delighted to see Point Cook taking up EVs faster than just about anywhere in the country. (Time expired)