Chris Bowen
McMahon · Australian Labor Party · Australia
“This builds on very important investments in our community, including 3,000 presentations to the Fairfield Medicare Urgent Care Clinic, including, in a couple of instances, members of my own family; 25,000 presentations to the Wentworthville urgent care clinic, which is important for the Greystanes and Pemulwuy community; and 22,000 prese…”
“Well, it's 1 July, an important day in our ambitions to deliver real change for Australians—real change that the Australian people instructed us to commence in 2022 and instructed us to keep going with in 2025. It's an important day with that real change and with a very strong focus on cost-of-living relief.”
“I thank the honourable member for the question. I can confirm for the honourable member that there is nothing 'so called' about free power when it's a requirement of law for the energy companies to provide it as an option to people in the relevant jurisdictions, including the constituents of Fowler.”
“I thank the honourable member for the question and thank her for our recent visit to a wonderful part of the world. One of the things we did was talk about cheaper home batteries. Today is 1 July, which means the cheaper home batteries policy is officially one year old today.”
“For those people who take that offer up, Morgan Stanley have found, for example, that some families could save $660 a year, which we on this side of the house think is a good thing. Those on that side of the house are opposed to it.”
“When we came to office, home batteries were in one in 60 houses. Now it's one in 17. That's wonderful for those families that are reducing their bills, in many cases to nothing and in some cases getting a rebate instead of a bill, but it's very good for putting downward pressure on energy prices for everyone.”
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“The Albanese Labor government is investing $80 million in supporting a new emergency department. We'll be working with the Minns government to upgrade Fairfield Hospital, a long-overdue investment, which I'm very pleased about and proud of. This adds to the fact that 92 per cent of GPs in McMahon are now bulk-billing, thanks to the bulk-billing incentives that Minister Butler has introduced. This is so important for those families who are doing it tough and who need access to bulk-billing. Of course, I'd be remiss not to add that 3,950 McMahon families have taken up a cheaper home battery.”
“This builds on very important investments in our community, including 3,000 presentations to the Fairfield Medicare Urgent Care Clinic, including, in a couple of instances, members of my own family; 25,000 presentations to the Wentworthville urgent care clinic, which is important for the Greystanes and Pemulwuy community; and 22,000 presentations to the Rooty Hill Urgent Care Clinic, which is important for the Blacktown community. Over four million cheaper scripts have been delivered in my electorate, which translates to a saving of $22 million for constituents in my community. And, importantly, we're investing in Fairfield Hospital. Fairfield Hospital is a fine and proud Labor achievement. It was opened in 1988 by the Unsworth Labor government, but there has been no investment in refurbishment since then, for the best part of 40 years.”
“This is such a big change for young families in particular. It ticks all the boxes. It's good financially. It's good for the wellbeing of the child. It's good for the wellbeing of the entire family. From today, eligible families will be able to access up to 26 weeks of paid parental leave, backed by the government, at an increased rate of payment of $1,000 a week. Importantly, parents have also received superannuation on their paid parental leave since 1 July last year, and that will continue. I'm particularly proud of this and have been involved in this policy area in the past.”
“Well, it's 1 July, an important day in our ambitions to deliver real change for Australians—real change that the Australian people instructed us to commence in 2022 and instructed us to keep going with in 2025. It's an important day with that real change and with a very strong focus on cost-of-living relief. For the 70,000 taxpayers in McMahon, today is an important day because the 16 per cent rate, which applies to taxable income between $18,201 and $45,000, will be reduced to 15 per cent. This is tax relief which is really targeted and focused on those Australians doing it tough. Of course, it applies to every taxpayer, but it will have the biggest impact for those in that tax bracket. Representing an electorate with many young families, I'm particularly pleased that paid parental leave has been extended to six months today.”
“These are all changes that come into force from today because the Albanese Labor government asked for those rules to change, as well as solar sharer coming into force today because we put it into place, as well as cheaper home batteries which have worked for 12 months to help 457,000 Australian households reduce their bills, which is a good thing. We will stand with those households. We will protect those policies. Those opposite would abolish those policies.”
“For those people who take that offer up, Morgan Stanley have found, for example, that some families could save $660 a year, which we on this side of the house think is a good thing. Those on that side of the house are opposed to it. We see this start today and it is a requirement of law for energy companies to deliver it from today, which we expect every single energy company covered to comply with. It's also the case that from today rule changes the government have requested have come into force. That means that there can only be one price rise each year. It means that there must be a fee-free option to pay. It means that customers whose discounted plans expire can't simply be moved to a higher cost plan. And it means that there can't be excessive fees for late payments.”
“When we came to office, home batteries were in one in 60 houses. Now it's one in 17. That's wonderful for those families that are reducing their bills, in many cases to nothing and in some cases getting a rebate instead of a bill, but it's very good for putting downward pressure on energy prices for everyone. In addition, the honourable member asked me how Australians can access the benefits of renewable energy. It's 1 July today, which also means solar sharer is now available for consumers in New South Wales, in South-East Queensland and South Australia, which is a requirement on energy companies to provide the option of three hours of free electricity in the middle of the day when the solar energy is at its strongest and is most abundant.”
“I thank the honourable member for the question and thank her for our recent visit to a wonderful part of the world. One of the things we did was talk about cheaper home batteries. Today is 1 July, which means the cheaper home batteries policy is officially one year old today. I'm pleased to tell the House that 457,439 Australian households have installed a cheaper home battery since 1 July, which means on average 1,255 Australian households have put in a cheaper home battery every single day for the last 12 months. It also means that—not in per capita terms, not per head terms, but in absolute terms—Australia now has more household batteries than the largest, most populous state in the United States of America, California. That's the achievement of Australians over the last 12 months.”
“That's because the people of Fowler want to reduce their bills, and they know that cheaper home batteries are a very good option to do so. That's why this government has been delivering it. I'm disappointed the member for Fowler doesn't support that policy.”
“The other elements that we are delivering include the default market offer, which has seen people in the Endeavour Energy network, which covers the people of Fowler, receive a 3.4 per cent reduction this year. The other thing we are delivering is cheaper home batteries, which 2,720 households in Fowler have taken up. They are also reducing their bills very dramatically. That is a rate in Fowler which is substantially higher than in other electorates. The member for Fowler has previously claimed that this is a policy for inner city electorates. That is just not true, because the people of Fowler are taking up cheap home batteries at a much faster rate than electorates that have higher wealth than the people of Fowler.”
“I thank the honourable member for the question. I can confirm for the honourable member that there is nothing 'so called' about free power when it's a requirement of law for the energy companies to provide it as an option to people in the relevant jurisdictions, including the constituents of Fowler. We've been very clear that solar sharer is not for everyone, but for those people who can move power to the middle of the day—whether they be people who work from home, who this side of the House support, or people who can use their smart devices to schedule their devices to be used in the middle of the day—it is a very good option for them. That is why we are requiring energy companies to deliver it. We say to energy companies that it is a requirement of law for it be delivered from today.”
“He doesn't want them helping reducing bills for everyone. When the members opposite have a chance to help Australians reduce their fuel bill or reduce their energy bill, they say no. They're against cheaper home batteries. They're against the EV tax cut. They're against the new vehicle efficiency standard. They're against any policy which helps Australians reduce their bills, because of their prejudice and their anticlimate action. They don't want to stand with the people of the suburbs and regions of Australia, including the people of Hume. Well, we do.”
“But I can tell the House that, since last week, there has been a development. There is now another electorate in which more than 10 per cent of the houses in that community have put in cheaper home batteries. 'What inner-city, woke electorate is it?' I can feel the House asking. Would it be a member who supports the cheaper home battery policy or one who opposes it? Well, the electorate in question is the electorate of Hume. More than 10 per cent of the good people of Hume have now put in a cheaper home battery. Is the local member pleased with this development? Has he said, 'Fantastic! Well done, Hume!' or is he against the policy? Well, I'm sorry to tell the House he has called for the abolition of the cheaper home battery policy. He doesn't want those 5,405 households in Hume to be able to reduce their bills to nothing.”
“Australian households have now installed 100 times the capacity of the Hornsdale battery just in the last year alone. These are Australians reducing their bills, in many cases, to zero but also putting downward pressure on bills for everyone, because they are storing that cheap renewable energy from the middle of the day and using it at night, which means we are using less of the more expensive energy. What we are seeing is Australians in the suburbs and the regions taking up this policy with great enthusiasm. I told the House last week that there are four electorates that have more than 10 per cent of the households with cheaper home batteries: Greenway, Mitchell, Mayo and Wright. They are people who are taking up the cheaper home battery policy with great enthusiasm.”
“I'm very grateful for the call and for the question from my honourable friend—and what a wonderful job she does representing the people of northern New South Wales in this House. I'm asked what policies we have to help people with the costs of fuel and energy, and of course we have several. We have the cheaper home battery policy, which tomorrow turns one year old. It was introduced on 1 July last year, and I'm pleased to tell the House that 456,320 Australian households have introduced cheaper home batteries. That equates now to 13 gigawatt-hours of storage. Now, the House might ask, 'What's 13 gigawatt-hours?' Well, some honourable members might remember the Hornsdale battery, which was at the time the biggest battery in the world. We thought it was a great national achievement at the time.”
“It said that this proposal to abolish the standards would be expected to increase the fiscal underlying balance of the government. What does that mean? More taxes. In fact, it went on to say that this impact reflects the increase in the fuel excise that will be paid. 'How much?' I hear honourable members asking—$600 million more paid in petrol tax because they would abolish the new vehicle efficiency standards. This is the party that pretends to be for low taxes, but, whenever they get an opportunity, they actually argue for higher taxes and argue against Australians having the choice of vehicle, which we introduced and will defend.”
“The honourable member for Reid asked me what policies would see Australians paying more for fuel and electricity. Abolishing the cheaper home batteries policy would do that, abolishing the electric vehicle tax cut would do that and abolishing the new vehicle efficiency standard would do that as well. Honourable members don't need to take my word for it. You won't hear me say this very often, Mr Speaker, but they could listen to the Liberal Party because the Liberal Party went to the last election proposing to abolish the new vehicle efficiency standards. When they snuck out their costings just before the election, we saw the implications of this because they had to release the Parliamentary Budget Office costing.”
“Today the equivalent figure is once every three minutes. Australians are taking up choices. What they are doing in many instances is taking up the choice of increased models that are now available thanks to the new vehicle efficiency standards introduced by the Albanese government and opposed by those opposite. When the minister for transport and I argued in the House for new vehicle efficiency standards to give Australians more choice, the opposition argued that that was a terrible thing, and we have seen the choice of models triple in Australia since the new vehicle efficiency standards came in. Now a third of the models are available for under $60,000, and now there are 15 models available for under $40,000, really opening up more choices for Australians. That's a good thing.”
“I thank my honourable friend for the question and thank her for what she does to represent her part of the world here in Canberra. Right around Australia, households are making decisions and choices about reducing their own energy bills and their fuel bills, and the Albanese government is backing them in those choices. For example, we are backing the 451,428 households that have chosen to put in a cheaper home battery under the Albanese government's cheaper home battery scheme. When we came to office, one in 60 Australian houses had the benefit of reduced bills from a home battery. Today that figure is one in 17—from one in 60 to one in 17. Another choice that Australians are making is the choice to buy electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles. When we came to office, an electric vehicle was sold in Australia once every 50 minutes.”
“They would take that support away, but we will continue to provide that support. We'll continue to support Australians in the choices they make.”
“The other thing we're doing is supporting Australians with their choices to buy electric vehicles, if they choose to, through the new vehicle efficiency standard and the electric vehicle tax cut. What brings all these policies together? It is that cheaper home batteries, the new vehicle efficiency standard and the electric vehicle tax cut would all be abolished by the opposition. They stand against them all. When they have a chance to stand with Australians and the choices they choose to make to reduce their energy use, to reduce their bills and to reduce their emissions, we stand with them in those choices. We support the choices they make in the electorates of Mitchell and Wright and electorates right across Australia, and those opposite just don't get it. They would stop that support for Australians cold stone dead.”
“I'm not sure how the member for Mitchell feels about that, but, given his margin is 3.8 per cent and there's 10 per cent of households with a battery, there's a bit of a conflict for him. The member for Mayo is in a similar boat, with more than 10 per cent. Also, there's the electorate of Wright. More than 10 per cent of the households in the electorate of Wright have a cheaper home battery—which, as it happens, is also more than his margin, of 7.9 per cent. But I've got better news for the member for Wright. Based on current trends, his is about to take over the member for Mayo's as the most popular electorate for cheaper home batteries in Australia. For a Queenslander, that's a great result. Queenslanders are taking up cheaper home batteries, not only reducing their bills each and every day but also reducing the bills for everyone.”
“But also, when it comes to energy bills, we continue to supply support, and one of the ways we do that is through the cheaper home batteries policy, one I know the House likes to get updates on. I'm pleased to tell the House that, as of today, 448,342 Australian households have taken up an Albanese government cheaper home battery. As we've said before, this is particularly the case in the outer suburbs of Australia. I can update the House: there are now four electorates where, less than a year into this program—this program turns a year old in one week's time—more than 10 per cent of their households have a cheaper home battery. There's the electorate of Greenway; the Attorney-General is very proud of that. The electorate of Mitchell is another one.”
“I thank the honourable member for her question and the very powerful way she represents the constituents from her beautiful part of the world in this House. In the face of the largest energy crisis the world has ever seen, it's important that Australians know their government has got their back through this crisis. The announcement made that we will extend the fuel excise relief for another month shows Australians that we understand that this international crisis has a long tail and will have impacts for some time. We will continue to provide the support as necessary, as has been outlined by the Prime Minister and the Treasurer. That's real and valuable relief as Australians go to the bowser each and every day.”
“In April he said, 'I say to Chris Bowen very clearly the time is that he focuses on diesel and makes sure we're going to have supplies into May and June.' Well, I've got good news for the member for Wannon. That is the case, and it's the case into the future as well. That's what this government has achieved. We thank the private sector. We thank our trading partners for working closely with us. We do not thank those who engaged in sledges, not solutions. There was a time, as the minister for transport indicated, we got questions from those opposite about these issues, but now they don't like the answers. It was all about politics and not about petrol. It was all about point scoring, because those opposite are partisans, not patriots.”
“There was a choice for people in public office to engage seriously with these challenges or to engage in politics—to engage in solutions or to engage in sledges. Those opposite chose sledges and chose insults, not ideas. They said to Australians that the shortages were coming and that rationing was coming—the parties to the Right. One Nation actually called for rationing, demanded rationing. We had the view that a calmer approach was necessary. We had the view that a steadier approach was necessary, and the member for Wannon, my shadow minister, warned that rationing and shortages were coming. He said in March they were coming in April. He said in April they were coming in May. He said in May they're coming in June.”
“In the face of all those challenges, I'm pleased to tell the House that Australia has more fuel today than at any time since the minimum stock obligation came into force and that we have substantially more fuel than we had on the day Iran was bombed. We have 44 days worth of petrol, which is eight days more than the day Iran was bombed. We have 39 days worth of diesel, which is seven days more, and we have three days more worth of jet fuel at 32 days. And there are 51 ships on the water currently on their way to Australia with more fuel and 3.9 billion litres of orders locked in and contracted to be delivered over the next four weeks. So Australians can know that, just as we have since 28 February been telling them that our fuel supply is secure, that situation remains and remains into the future.”
“I thank my honourable friend for the question and also recognise the invaluable work she does as a member of our climate and energy team in this government. In the face of the most serious energy crisis the world has ever seen, this government had the view that a very serious response was required. That response involved the Prime Minister interacting with leaders in our region to ensure fuel security, it involved the government working with Export Finance Australia to get extra fuel for Australians, and it involved working closely with the private sector in the face of great challenges, including one of our refineries catching on fire at the worst possible time.”
“Our approach is to continue to work on fuel supply with our trading partners and to build in the budget a strategic reserve of fuel owned by the Australian people for the Australian people. That is opposed by those opposite. Also, we believe it's important to give Australians choices to diversify their transport so they can use electric vehicles and battery electric vehicles, because, for every 100,000 EVs in Australia, we avoid three days' worth of petrol use and diesel use. We are pleased that, for example, yesterday the sales figures showed 30 per cent of cars sold in May were electric or plug-in hybrid. This is huge and is supported by the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard, which they would abolish, and by the electric vehicle tax cut, which they would abolish.”
“Concerning the Australian people, on 25 March, he said, 'Towards the end of April, we are likely to be looking at serious, serious shortages.' Not to be outdone, with April having come and gone with no shortages and no rationing, just a couple of weeks ago, on 20 April, he moved on and said: My deep concern … is … what it looks like for us in June … Moving on, no shortages, just putting the goalposts out further—I now rely on the member for Deakin to ask me a serious question about fuel supply because, when the news is good, the opposition is not interested. They are not patriots. They are partisans more interested in pointscoring than in constructive engagement.”
“Part of that work to ensure fuel supply and fuel security has been to provide factual, calm updates to the Australian people on a regular basis about our fuel situation. The honourable member asked me what policies would hurt that. Well, policies which didn't involve that calm, factual update to the Australian people would do that. The approach taken by all honourable members has not been the same as that of the government. For example, my shadow minister, the member for Wannon, said on 19 March: The deep concern we have now is that, come early April, mid-April, that's when we're really going to be looking at shortages.”
“I thank the honourable member for his question and for his work in the House, and I'm happy to tell the honourable member and the House that we currently have 48 days worth of petrol in Australia. On the day that Iran was bombed, we had 36 days, so we have increased the supply of petrol by 12 days. We have 36 days worth of diesel and 30 days worth of jet fuel, which are both more than we had on the day Iran was bombed. In fact, as we speak, across all fuel types we have 6.2 billion litres, which is just under one billion litres more than when Iran was first bombed. This has been achieved by the government working closely with industry, working with our trading partners in South-East Asia through the Prime Minister and Foreign minister and working closely across the board.”
“I thank the honourable member for her question. The government's focus has been on securing fuel supply in the middle of a fuel crisis internationally—that would be the first point I'd make. Secondly, the point I'd make is that the government has chosen to focus on reducing emissions in heavy industry, including mining, through reforms to the Safeguard Mechanism. Those reforms have now been operating for two years and have resulted in 5.8 million tonnes of avoided emissions. Importantly, we are projected to avoid 17 billion litres of diesel being used between now and 2035 because we are putting in place the settings that will encourage those big emitters and big facilities to reduce their fuel use in a careful, methodical and properly designed fashion.”
“A return to the policies of the past would slow all this. I'm always grateful to the shadow minister when he makes clear, as he did all last week, that he opposes a popular policy like Cheaper Home Batteries. He would prefer to go back to the UNGI scheme, which was the signature scheme of the Leader of the Opposition, Underwriting New Generation Investment. It should have been called 'Unfortunately no generation involved', because we have added 12 gigawatt hours but do you know how much the UNGI scheme added? Zero—not one kilowatt hour. That was one of their— (Time expired)”
“And what we're doing is transferring a lot of that cheap renewable energy from the middle of the day to the night through batteries. This is an Australian story and one that Australia can be proud of. The fact that Australians have installed 423,717 batteries since 1 July is a global story. That is 12 gigawatt hours worth of storage. In Australia we've seen 10 per cent of the world's battery capacity added in our country. Only two countries have added more battery capacity than Australia over the last 12 months, the United States and China, and in per capita terms Australia leads by a long way in terms of battery capacity. In fact, 30 gigawatt hours of household battery capacity were added in all of 2025, and we have added 12 gigawatt hours just since 1 July. The honourable member asked me what would slow all this.”
“What it showed was reductions in energy bills from a modest one per cent to up to 10.7 per cent for residences and up to 20.9 per cent for small businesses. We see this as good progress, reducing energy bills by spreading more of the cheapest form of energy through a commonsense plan to roll out renewables backed by batteries across the country. On Friday we saw—of interest to the honourable member—emissions fall as well. In 2025, electricity emissions were down four per cent, which is good progress. And emissions intensity in our energy system—that is, the amount of carbon produced per kilowatt—is the lowest it has ever been in our country under those figures. This is very much a story of batteries, because we know that the impact on energy prices mainly comes from coal and gas, which is expensive, in the night-time.”
“I appreciate the question from the honourable member for Melbourne and, more importantly, I appreciate the pragmatic approach she brings to climate discussions in this House, calling for climate action, and the positive contribution she's made in her time in this House already. Last week, we saw signs of progress in the government's plans. On Tuesday, we saw the announcement from the energy regulator, under the legally obliged release of the default market offer, of significant reductions in energy bills across the relevant jurisdictions. That is required to be released under law unless the minister of the day signs a law to keep it secret—which I have never done and would never do but one of my predecessors once did just prior to an election.”
“This is a wonderful service in Main Street, Blacktown providing mental health support for the people of Western Sydney. Finally—and the Assistant Minister for Health and Ageing is joining us—I'm very pleased to be able to say that I attended the opening of the Fairfield Hospital Perinatal Mental Health Centre for people undergoing postnatal and prenatal depression, an important addition. Services for people with perinatal mental health challenges have been lacking in Western Sydney. I saw it growing up as a kid in Western Sydney, where people had nowhere to go other than the GP, who often didn't understand matters of postnatal and perinatal depression. Now there's a specific purpose-built clinic at Fairfield Hospital and I'm very proud of that.”
“There are four urgent care clinics servicing various parts of my electorate: 13,700 people have visited the Fairfield urgent care clinic; 22,500 have visited Wentworthville, which services Greystones; and 22,500 people have visited Rooty Hill, which services Blacktown. In addition, four million cheaper scripts have been delivered in my electorate under the Albanese government, which is so important for people who are doing it tough, have chronic diseases and need that extra support. In addition, we have opened the Blacktown Medicare Mental Health Centre. I've visited it now twice with the member for Dobell, the assistant minister who's doing an outstanding job. Already, there have been 1,000 occasions of care in the Blacktown mental health clinic—walk in, no appointment necessary, no fee.”
“I was pleased to visit it a week or so ago with the state member for Fairfield, Dr David Saliba, to inspect the early works on this $630 million upgrade jointly funded by the Albanese and Minns governments, with $80 million from the Albanese government contributing particularly to the expanded emergency department, which is so important for our community. I've had to use that emergency department with my kids—many parents in Fairfield have had to. The service there is wonderful, but it is not keeping up with community growth. The first element will be the expansion of the car park, which is always full. But we're also going to see a new and expanded emergency department, intensive care unit, medical imaging, new operating theatres and new inpatient wards. Of course, Fairfield Hospital is only one of the initiatives that we are pursuing.”
“One of the most important issues in last year's election in Western Sydney was health care, and I'm pleased to provide the House and my community with an update on the Albanese government delivering on improved health services for the people of McMahon and Western Sydney, starting with Fairfield Hospital. Fairfield Hospital was a proud achievement of the Unsworth Labor government in New South Wales, but the Unsworth Labor government was a long time ago. It was built in 1988 and it has not received any major works since then. All that is changing now.”
“I thank the honourable member for his question. The Capacity Investment Scheme is very important for creating jobs and investment across Australia. The auction just last week will unlock $17 billion in private investment and create around 19,000 construction jobs, so it's very important. In relation to the cost in the budget, the costings are commercial-in-confidence, for reasons that the House would understand. It is an auction and it is appropriate that the taxpayers' interest be respected and defended by keeping it commercial-in-confidence. The member for New England would understand this. When he was in office, he once said, 'I don't believe there's a reason that everyone in the public needs to know commercial-in-confidence agreements in relation to government policy.'”
“The honourable member raises a most serious matter. I completely agree with the points that he has made. What has happened, on the face of it, is utterly unacceptable. I'll discuss the matter with the Minister for Indigenous Australians. I no doubt will discuss the matter with the New South Wales government as well because we all have some responsibilities here, including the Commonwealth. I'm happy to keep the honourable member fully advised of progress in the investigation and action that arises. The point that he makes—that any destruction of First Nations culture is utterly unacceptable—is one that I entirely agree with.”
“Well, what makes a difference is 414,396 cheaper home batteries that have now been installed under the Albanese government. That's 414,000 batteries reducing prices for those households but also reducing prices for everyone. What would not help is 22 failed energy policies. What would not help is sweating unreliable and expensive coal for longer. What would not help is $600 billion on a nuclear fantasy. They are all things that will not help. What is helping is cheaper renewable energy backed by batteries.”
“The Energy Regulator said today, for example, the cheaper home battery policy is 'certainly making the system cheaper'. When we get cheaper home batteries in, it reduces the bills for those households and it reduces the bills for everybody. Indeed the Energy Regulator has also said these reductions have 'really been driven by a big surge in batteries and solar into the system, which is displacing the need for more expensive gas fired generation and hydro generation at peak times'. This is what is working. In addition, the Albanese government's reforms to the default market offer to strip out costs from energy companies and not allow them to claim them in the default market offer is making a difference. The honourable member asked me what makes a difference.”
“In rural New South Wales, the area covered by Essential Energy—the members for Eden-Monaro and Richmond are very pleased about this, but I think all honourable members should be—there's a small-business reduction of up to 20.9 per cent in their energy bills. Now, the member asks me what has led to this. There are, really, three reasons. It's no coincidence that, at the time we've hit 50 per cent renewables in our grid, we are seeing energy prices come down. That's the first thing. Secondly, we're seeing more of that cheap renewable energy during the day stored for night-time, when prices go up, because what we see is coal and gas setting the price at night-time, which drives prices up. Batteries are now setting the price 30 per cent of the time, compared to 18 per cent of the time just 12 months ago.”
“I thank my honourable friend for the question. As the honourable member indicates, today is the day where the default market offer final determination is released. It's a matter of law that it must go out today unless the minister intervenes and changes the law—something I have not done but something one of my predecessors has done on previous occasions. But there was no need for that today, because, on that occasion, a minister hid a 20 per cent price rise; today, we have price reductions in every jurisdiction in Australia covered by the default market offer. For the honourable member for Griffith, in the Energex jurisdiction, there's a 10.7 per cent reduction for residences and a 14 per cent reduction for small business.”
“This is a policy of the government opposed by those who do not think we should have a strategic government owned reserve. The honourable member asked me how our approach compares with previous approaches. We believe in a reserve held in our country for our country, not a reserve held for Australia in Texas, which was the situation we inherited. We believe in a government owned reserve to ensure that we are well placed, which is a position opposed by those opposite. These are the approaches that the Albanese government—”
“In the face of all the world has thrown at us, Australians working to ensure that they use only the fuel they need and the government working with industry to ensure that we have extra supplies have seen Australia better placed than most countries. But we know that there's more to do. That's why the budget delivered by the Treasurer just a couple of weeks ago invested substantially in fuel security, because we believe that, if you're going to improve our strategic reserves, if you're going to improve our sovereignty, then it makes sense to have a sovereign strategic reserve held by the people for the people—a government owned reserve to ensure that we are better placed in the future. Most members of the International Energy Agency have a government owned reserve. Australia has been the exception. This is a point of difference.”
“In fact, over the last seven weeks, we—the government and industry working together—have added a billion litres of extra stockholding, which, by way of comparison, is as much as the opposition has promised to add between now and 2030. That's what we've added over the last seven weeks, working with industry and working with refiners to ensure that we are fuel secure in the most difficult circumstances possible. In relation to Export Finance Australia, we've underwritten 800 million litres of extra supply to Australia to provide us with a buffer. This is the approach the Albanese government has taken.”