PRIVATE MEMBERS' BUSINESS

Ms JARRETT (Brisbane) (13:12): I'm really pleased to speak to this motion, because energy policy does matter and it's a big difference on this side of the House compared to the other. It matters because ultimately it comes down to something very simple: Australians pay every time they turn on the light, boil the kettle or charge their car. Families are already dealing with cost of living—groceries, housing and other everyday expenses.

So energy bills matter. We get it. Our government's approach has been to tackle this challenge on two fronts: to provide immediate cost-of-living relief while investing in cheaper, safer and more reliable energy systems for the future.

That distinction is important. If we want lasting reductions in energy costs, Australians need to increase the supply of affordable electricity, and that means reducing our exposure to expensive fossil fuel generation. So what's Labor doing?

Well, under the Energy Bill Relief Fund, Australian households and eligible small businesses received up to $150 in electricity rebates delivered through two $75 credits on electricity bills, and that followed earlier rounds of energy bill relief. These rebates matter because they provide immediate assistance while longer term investments in Australia's electricity system are being built.

But Labor's energy policy isn't just about rebates. One of the biggest opportunities we have in Australia is in renewable energy. Australia has extraordinary solar and wind resources and, once renewable projects are constructed, coal and gas become far less relevant.

Labor's objective is to increase renewable energy while ensuring we have the storage and infrastructure necessary to keep electricity reliable. Through the Capacity Investment Scheme, we are supporting investment in renewable generation and dispatchable storage. Why does that matter to consumers?

Because increasing supply of low-cost electricity, backed by batteries and other storage, puts downward pressure on wholesale electricity prices and reduces reliance on expensive fossil-fuel generation, especially during times of high demand. That's why Labor is helping households produce and store more of their own renewable energy. Our Cheaper Home Batteries Program began last year, providing around a 30 per cent discount on the upfront costs of eligible batteries connected to rooftop solar.

We know that there are millions of solar rooftops in Australia. The challenge, though, is that the solar produces enormous amounts of energy during the day, while households often consume large amounts of electricity in the evening. Batteries change that equation.

With batteries, instead of exporting solar electricity during the middle of the day and then buying it back from the grid at night, households with a battery can now store more of their own electricity and use it later. It's estimated that eligible households could save around $4,000 on the upfront cost of an 11.5-kilowatt-hour battery. Australians have responded.

I'm sure we've heard the minister—within the first six months of the program, more than 160,000 batteries were installed. Now, we see an uptake of approximately half a million, and the current program could help more than two million Australians install batteries by 2030. Labor is also helping people make their homes more energy efficient.

The $1 billion Household Energy Upgrades Fund supports discounted finance for improvements, including solar batteries, insulation, double glazing and efficient electric appliances. By April 2026, the program had helped finance more than 10,000 energy upgrades across 4,100 Australian homes. The energy transition is not just about emissions targets.

It is about household economics. It is about helping families use the electricity generated on their own roofs. It is about building enough renewable energy generation and storage so Australia has a reliable electricity system as ageing coal-fired power stations retire.

Retail electricity prices are affected by a lot of issues, but what governments can influence are the fundamentals. We can increase supply of renewable energy, we can encourage competition and investment, we can build storage, we can help households improve efficiency and we can make technologies like batteries more affordable. We heard from the member for McPherson about their new plan, allowing for nuclear energy—which we don't need when we have renewables—and running coal as hard as they can.

That's in stark contrast to us. Some of the best renewable energy resources in the world are here in Australia. Labor's goal is to make sure Australians don't just help produce that energy but share in the economic benefits of it.

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