MOTIONS

Dr RYAN (Kooyong) (17:54): I commend the government for the Cheaper Home Batteries Program. More than a year ago, the government provided Australian households, small businesses and community organisations with a discount of about 30 per cent on eligible battery storage systems. Those batteries allow for storage of abundant cheap solar energy generated during the day for use at a time when electricity is more expensive.

There have been more than 500,000 battery installations since the program started, reflecting the enormous scale of household demand when the economics stack up. The member for Bonner is right. Australia's energy transition is delivering real savings.

However, at the moment these savings are generally flowing in the direction of those who are in a position to access the energy transition. Renters, apartment dwellers and people living in other forms of multioccupancy housing are locked out of the scheme, which requires pairing a battery with rooftop solar on a property that the applicant can modify. Vulnerable households, low-income households and renters are still missing out.

Around one-third of Australians rent, and they're more likely to experience energy hardship than home owners. But only 11 per cent of rentals have solar, compared to 44 per cent of home owners, and only six per cent of apartments, compared to 39 per cent of detached or semidetached homes. So for too many people the possibility of accessing free electricity harvested from the sun hitting their roof is at the whim of a landlord with little financial incentive to invest in solar and storage.

This is a gap that the Commonwealth should help close, working with the states, and I call on the government to consider more reforms to facilitate household electrification. Firstly, the government should, and could, expand direct Commonwealth finance and incentives, like the Household Energy Upgrades Fund, so that landlords have a genuine incentive to install solar, batteries and energy efficient appliances in rental properties.

Secondly, we should work to make portable plug-in solar panels legal to install and use in Australian homes. Small standalone solar units attached to balconies or used in backyards and plugged into power points can produce enough power to run a fridge, a television and other appliances during the day. They're already legal in the UK, in Germany, in Spain and in New Zealand; they should be legal here too.

Researchers have estimated that Australians living in capital cities could save between $226 and $372 every year with a plug-in solar system. A kit that costs about $1,000 would pay for itself in three years and would keep working for 20 years. And renters could take it with them when they move.

Thirdly, the government should adjust tax policy settings to reward landlords who bring their properties up to a high energy performance standard. And, finally, the government should work with the states towards a national target for rental homes to be fully electrified by 2040. The states are already showing what is possible when there is a clear road map.

Victoria's Gas Substitution Roadmap sets out that, from 1 January 2027, all new homes and commercial buildings will be built all electric, while new minimum energy efficiency standards for rental properties will come into force shortly after that. The ACT has also committed to phasing out fossil gas entirely by 2045. These approaches are encouraging, but they highlight the need for national coordination and direction.

The Cheaper Home Batteries Program has proven that when the Commonwealth gets the settings right, Australians will respond. We are now a world leader in rooftop solar, but the benefits of rooftop renewables are unevenly and inequitably distributed. Too many of the 2.5 million Australians who live in apartments or units are still missing out.

Let's make sure that the benefits of cheap electricity from renewables extend to every Australian home, not just to those people who are currently lucky enough to own the roof over their heads. The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Ms Aldred ): There being no further speakers, the debate is adjourned. The resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.