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 member for Lingiari represents a beautiful and important part of Australia and she does that very, very well. I thank her for the question. She asks how the Albanese government is supplying support to Australian households with energy bills. There are a couple of ways. There is energy bill relief, and there are tax cuts, both of which were in last night's budget. What energy bill relief and tax cuts have in common is that they give support to the Australian people, but they don't get much support from the Liberal Party of Australia. That's what they have in common. There is $1.8 billion of energy bill relief flowing directly to the Australian people, households and small businesses.”
“Now, what he didn't reveal is that that's based on producing 40 per cent less electricity. The Leader of the Opposition will be up on Thursday. Perhaps he's going to announce their health policy, with 40 per cent fewer patients by 2050 to make it cheaper; or their education policy, with 40 per cent fewer students to make it cheaper; or their defence policy, in which they will cut Defence by 40 per cent—because that's what they do. They just say: 'We'll just make less. It'll cost less.' All this spending will have to be paid for by cuts. We agree with the Leader of the Opposition—look at past performance. He's cut health before. That means that, when it comes to the Leader of the Opposition, he will cut and the Australian people will pay.”
“It's on your books. You can't run from it now. The Leader of the Opposition will have to own this policy all the way to the next election. This policy will put upward pressure on prices in a couple of ways. Firstly, it'll keep that coal in the grid for longer. The Leader of the National Party has talked about it himself. He's been honest about it and said: 'We need to sweat these assets longer. We need this coal-fired power for longer.' That means more unreliable power, and it means more expensive power. The other way it will impact is the fact that this is a $600 billion cost to the taxpayers. The shadow Treasurer was on Insiders on Sunday. He was asked about this. He couldn't remember the cost, and then he said it was $600 billion, and then he just kept saying it's 44 per cent cheaper.”
“Whether it's the Australian Energy Market Operator or the Australian Energy Market Commission or the Australian Energy Regulator, all three of our expert bodies have said at various points over the last 12 months that the best thing we can do is keep on going with the rollout of renewable energy. The Energy Regulator herself pointed out that, in the last quarter of last year, there were 23 high-price incidents as a result of coal-fired power outages. We've got to replace that coal-fired power with new, cheap, reliable energy, and that is what we are doing. The member for Reid asked me if there are any alternatives, and I can tell her and the House there are. There's one big and expensive alternative, and just because the Leader of the Opposition doesn't talk about it anymore doesn't mean it has gone away. You've announced it. It's there.”
“I thank my honourable friend for her question. The Albanese government has prioritised urgent action on relief for households when it comes to energy prices with three rounds of household energy bill relief—two of which were opposed by those opposite and the third of which was announced by the Prime Minister and the government on the weekend for an extra $150 worth of support for Australian families, because that's what Australian families need and deserve. In a period where energy prices are elevated around the world, the Albanese government has got the backs of the Australian people to help them through that period. Of course, the other thing we're doing is continuing with what the experts say is the best plan for the cheapest energy prices going forward.”
“Now, he'd need to cut $600 billion to pay for his nuclear policy, plus $10 billion a year to pay for the free lunch policy, plus the $350 billion of cuts that they admit to. The 2014 budget would look like a Sunday picnic! We know the Leader of the Opposition has said there'll be cuts, but he'll tell us about them after the election. So we have this policy, which will cost $600 billion, and you know what will follow: a horror budget—cigars and all—with cuts to health and cuts to education to pay for his nuclear fantasy.”
“He was out last week. He subjected himself to an interview with that Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, Peta Credlin. He was asked, during that interview, about his nuclear policy. I've got to say, this interview is being compared to the Frost-Nixon interviews for its searching intellect and for the tough questions! Ray Hadley wasn't available that evening. But this interview saw the Leader of the Opposition talk about his nuclear policy—I'm going to defend the Leader of the Opposition, because I thought it was a good choice. They could talk about old times, like the 2014 budget, where they took $50 billion out of the health system. As my friend the Minister for Health and Aged Care has pointed out at the despatch box once or twice, the Leader of the Opposition was voted Australia's worst health minister because of the $50 billion he cut.”
“It came from private investors into our energy system. A policy which would take Australia backwards would be a policy which is taxpayer funded to the tune of $600 billion. That's the policy of the opposition. The nuclear policy is a thirsty one—it's thirsty for money and thirsty for water. That's the indication we have from the opposition. As the Minister for the Environment and Water and I pointed out today, they would need a Sydney Harbour every year for their nuclear policy. The member for Fairfax has been flogging the Harbour Bridge all year. Now he needs to throw in the entire Sydney Harbour, because it's a policy which would take water away from farmers across the country. It would also require money. It would be paid for by taxpayers. To be fair to the Leader of the Opposition, he's been out talking about his policy.”
“I thank my honourable friend for the question. I'm pleased to tell the member for Reid and the House about new figures out today which show that last year was a record year for new renewable energy investment. Nine billion dollars was invested over the course of last year, creating 10,000 construction jobs across the country, building the energy system of the future and introducing more and cheaper reliable renewable energy into our grid after a decade in which four gigawatts of dispatchable energy left the grid and only one gigawatt came on. Last year, we saw this record, which benefits families and small businesses. The honourable member asked me which energy policies might hurt Australians. Of course, the good thing about that $9 billion of expenditure last year is that the vast bulk of it came from the private sector.”
“Third, again, is the member for Mitchell. I've got good news for you, Mr Speaker. The biggest take-up of electric vehicles under our policy in Queensland is Springfield in your electorate, so that's good news for the Speaker, and the second is Blair. In Victoria, the top-selling suburb for electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles is in the electorate of Lalor. The second is Lalor and third is Holt. These are the suburbs and electorates that are benefiting that those opposite tried to deny choice to. They tried to deny choice to people in outer suburbs and regions of Australia because they don't really represent outer suburbs and regions. This side of the House does.”
“To be fair, and with respect to the member for North Sydney—she did advocate for it, and I'm sure her constituents do benefit from it—the people who really benefit from this policy are people in the outer suburbs and regions, the people who drive for longer distances. That is a fact. They are the people who benefit. For example, an average motorist in the electorate of Mitchell would benefit compared to a motorist in the electorate of North Sydney. There will be $90 billion in overall benefit between now and 2050 in petrol costs but much more in the outer suburbs. Of the suburbs that have taken up the new vehicle discount, the tax cut of the Albanese government, the first in New South Wales is in Kellyville in the electorate of Mitchell. The second is the electorate of Greenway for the Minister for Communications.”
“What this means is more choice for Australian motorists, and it builds on what we've already done. We're already seeing it having an impact even though it only came into force on 1 January. The number of EVs available in Australia and the range of choices have tripled since May 2022. When we came to office, there were no electric vehicles available for sale in Australia under $45,000. There are now eight models available under $45,000. There are now utes available. The BYD electric hybrid ute has sold very well at a cost of $60,000 since it was introduced just before Christmas. These are the sorts of options and choices we want to give Australians, and, of course, this leads to lower running costs and lower petrol costs for motorists.”
“I thank the member for North Sydney for her question and very genuinely thank her for her leadership and engagement on this issue and other issues across this parliament. As the member for North Sydney knows and as the House will recall, Australia and Russia were the only two major economies without new vehicle efficiency standards. The key word there is 'were' because, on 1 January, that changed with our New Vehicle Efficiency Standard coming into force to give Australians better choices of motor vehicles. It was in the too-hard basket for too long, and we put it on the to-do list and got it done, passed by the parliament with the support of the crossbench and, of course, opposed by the Liberal and National parties despite them trying to do it when they were in office.”
“The changes ultimately support the government's climate change and net zero objectives to allow the advancement of world-class offshore renewable energy projects. Offshore wind will provide energy security, reliability and affordability, while also benefiting Australia's national interests including job creation, regional development and investment in coastal communities and economies. I commend the bill to the House. Debate adjourned. House adjourned at 20:47”
“At the outset, I wish to thank all honourable members for their contributions. I appreciate the opportunity to reflect on the debate on the Electricity Infrastructure Legislation Amendment Bill 2025. The passage of the Electricity Infrastructure Legislation Amendment Bill 2025 provides for the consistent and equal treatment of all applications under the offshore electricity infrastructure licensing scheme. It's necessary to ensure all feasibility licence decisions are underpinned by a fair and competitive scheme for all applicants regardless of which declared area they apply for or when their applications were made. These changes will clarify scheme administration and provide regulatory certainty for feasibility licence applicants as well.”
“The member for Pearce is a great member of a strong Western Australian Labor delegation. I thank her for the question and her strong leadership in Western Australia. Of course, the Albanese government is delivering $300 in bill relief to every single Australian household—”
“These changes will improve scheme administration, provide regulatory certainty to applicants and licence holders, and, importantly, support the development of a high-quality and high-integrity offshore renewables industry in Australia. I commend this bill to the House. Debate adjourned.”
“However, currently these regulation amendments only apply to licence applications made after their commencement. That means applications submitted before the OEI Regulations were amended would be treated differently to applications submitted subsequent to the amendments, and result in unfair outcomes for different applications. This bill seeks to ensure a consistent approach to all feasibility licence applications, regardless of when they have been made, by ensuring that the regulation amendments apply to applications made prior to their commencement. Passage of this bill will ensure that the licensing scheme operates consistently and equally for all applicants and licence holders regardless of when their applications were made.”
“I move: That this bill be now read a second time. In December 2024, important amendments to the Offshore Electricity Infrastructure Regulations (the OEI Regulations) were introduced to clarify my legislative powers when making decisions on feasibility licence applications for offshore renewable energy projects. The effect of those regulation amendments was to ensure that the offshore electricity infrastructure licensing scheme operated as intended. Those regulation amendments set out the requirements for area descriptions within licence applications, provided that licences could only be granted for the area as described in the licence application and ensured that only applications of the highest merit could be granted licences, where those applications overlapped with applications of lower merit.”
“There will $600 billion in cuts to pay for nuclear. That is $600 billion that Australians will pay for. That's why the Australian people can say that they will very clearly be worse off under Dutton.”
“I don't know how those geniuses came up with that. But then there are other problems. The Leader of the Opposition was out at his little interview on Sunday, which went so well. He was asked about energy prices and he said: … a 44 per cent reduction in the model of delivering an energy system, you would expect a 44 per cent reduction, or of that order, being passed through in energy bill relief. So he says that that's going to come off bills. There's been some response to that. Dr Dylan McConnell said in response that this was a 'complete misunderstanding' of the coalition's own policy. He said: 'He has no idea what he is talking about.' That's what the experts say. We know that their policy will cost $600 billion, which will have to paid for. It will be paid for by bills, and by cuts to services as well.”
“We know that we need more electricity for more reliability at lower prices. The member asked me what policies might see bills go up and, to be fair, the opposition has had some pretty big news as well. Just before Christmas, after a long wait, we saw their final nuclear policy. I wish I could tell the House that it was worth the wait, but I'm afraid I have to tell the House that it was an absolute Barry Crocker of a costings document. First, in order to pretend that nuclear is cheaper, they had to assume a smaller economy. They actually said: 'We think the economy will be $4 trillion smaller by 2050.' Well done! Congratulations! I wish we'd thought of that. Less electricity costs less—that's their entire policy. If you produce 40 per cent less electricity, maybe it's around 40 per cent cheaper.”
“I thank my honourable friend for the question. Of course, the Albanese government is delivering $300 in bill relief to every single Australian household. Those opposite disparage it and they oppose it, but we know it makes a meaningful difference. But we know there's a lot more to do. We know we need more energy in the system. The House has heard me say before that over the decade of the coalition government we saw four gigawatts of dispatchable power leave our grid, and that left us very exposed. Today, for the first time, in the first sitting day of 2025, I can tell the House that, unlike the opposition, which saw four gigawatts leave the grid over their decade, over the last three years we have seen four gigawatts of dispatchable energy enter grid—off under them; on under us—and that's in addition to 15 gigawatts of renewable energy.”