Claire Clutterham
Sturt · Australian Labor Party · Australia
“Some in this House have asked: how many cups of coffee can you buy with the Albanese Labor government's 1 July 2026 tax cuts? But I ask: how many cups of coffee can you buy with the money that you save from seeing a GP for free?”
“The eSafety Commissioner has identified serious compliance concerns and is actively investigating five major platforms due to their noncompliance.”
“But we need action from the entire parliament, in this place and in the other place, for that to happen. I call on all members and senators to walk together to take this action. I do that because this issue is also deeply personal for me. In my first speech to this parliament, I spoke about my own experience of bullying at school.”
“One of the early scenes in the 2010 movie The Social Network depicted young women at Harvard recoiling in disgust as they discover a website created by one of their peers that allowed male students to compare them based on their so-called 'hotness'. The website was a precursor to what would become Facebook.”
“Social media is a part of the world they have always known, yet they were remarkably forthright about its downsides. They spoke about algorithms that keep them scrolling, the pressure to seek approval through likes and followers, and the impact social media was having on their confidence, self-esteem and mental health.”
“That is why keeping children safe online should be a bipartisan issue. When the Albanese Labor government introduced the social media minimum age of 16 last year, we did so because we listened to parents, educators, experts and young people.”
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“I recently attended the inaugural season launch for the Norwood Netball Club, which will be competing for the first time in Netball South Australia's 2026 Hospital Research Foundation Group Premier League competition. As a netball tragic who still tries to play in my local masters competition—masters in age only, not skill level—I was honoured to be able to support the club at their season launch. Netball remains the No. 1 sport for women and girls in this country, and the Norwood Netball Club's Premier League squad will be playing in a highly skilled and highly sought after competition. The Netball SA Premier League competition is the highest level of netty in South Australia, and it is the pathway for players to national competitions, the Suncorp Super Netball league and to join the mighty Adelaide Thunderbirds.”
“Supported by this investment, one day Australia will also be able to send our Australian of the Year, astronaut Kathryn Bennell-Pegg, to space to further signal our commitment to space as a critical domain. This bill, which is a nod to space and the role of LEO direct-to-device satellites, will modernise Australia's universal service arrangements to provide equitable access to basic mobile coverage outdoors—”
“Australia's investment in building sovereign satellites will underpin the growth of not only our domestic space capability but a range of other capabilities and will also promote partnerships between government and the private sector as investment in projects and missions and procurement from Australian companies take on much greater importance. Investment in sovereign space capability is critically important for Australian industry, science and skills formation. It will help commercialise innovation and translate the skills and capabilities developed in the space sector more broadly to the benefit of all Australian industry and society.”
“Low Earth orbit is the region of space closest to Earth, typically extending from an altitude of between 500 and 2,000 kilometres, reducing latency and improving signal quality. Unlike cellular networks, where devices connect to ground towers, direct-to-device systems use satellites as network nodes in the sky, receiving and transmitting data directly. Low Earth orbit direct-to-device technology has enormous potential across multiple sectors, including emergency and disaster response, because it enables the transmission of messages or alerts when terrestrial networks are down or unavailable. Then, of course, it provides much needed connectivity in rural and remote areas without cellular coverage, improving access to digital services, education and health care.”
“It goes without saying that some sectors of the community thought that the delivery of mobile coverage across Australia's vast inland areas would not be possible, but technology has intervened. In particular, the growth and development of new low-Earth-orbit satellite direct-to-device technology will make it possible. This direct-to-device technology is incredible. It's a satellite communication technology that allows conventional devices such as mobile phones or IOT sensors to connect directly to satellites in low Earth orbit, bypassing traditional cellular networks and ground based infrastructure. This means a device can send and receive data from virtually anywhere on the planet, even in areas without mobile coverage or network infrastructure.”
“It also provides for a range of new ministerial powers, including to set standards, rules and benchmarks for mobile service quality and reliability in connection with the new obligation. It also sets the default designation of Telstra Ltd, Optus Mobile Pty Ltd and TPG Telecom Ltd as primary universal outdoor mobile providers from 1 December 2027. These entities will for the first time be obligated to provide reasonable access to outdoor baseline mobile coverage across Australia on an equitable basis. Part 2 of schedule 1 inserts the new part 5a into the Telecommunications (Consumer Protection and Service Standards) Act to give the minister for communications new powers to make standards, rules and benchmarks that need to be complied with by carriers and carriage service providers in relation to mobile telecommunications services.”
“In response, the universal outdoor mobile obligation will require major mobile network operators Telstra, Optus and TPG Telecom and any other providers designated in the future to provide outdoor baseline mobile coverage across Australia on an equitable basis. This reform will benefit all Australians, particularly remote and regional communities, by expanding baseline mobile coverage, which will in turn improve public safety by enabling connectivity to essential services and triple zero. In terms of the structure of the bill, there is one schedule comprising two parts. The first part amends existing part 2 of the Telecommunications (Consumer Protection and Service Standards) Act to incorporate the universal outdoor mobile obligation into the existing universal service regime.”
“In doing so, the review recommended a unified service obligation that is technology neutral and has a mandate that voice-capable broadband services be available to all, and with the default provider being required to ensure these services meet minimum quality and speed standards, particularly in remote areas. The review also noted that the transition from copper and other legacy networks needed to be carefully managed, ensuring reliable alternatives are in place before any legacy infrastructure is retired. Mobile telecommunications are essential to people in Australia, especially in regional, rural and remote areas. Stakeholders have longstanding concerns for public safety, given gaps in terrestrial mobile coverage, including on many regional and remote roads.”
“The 2024 review was themed 'Connecting communities, reaching every region'. It acknowledged that the USO must be modernised to reflect today's digital realities. It also acknowledged that many rural and remote residents, especially those who live where there is no mobile coverage, value their landline phone services delivered over copper and other legacy technologies, but that legacy voice services are ageing and becoming increasingly expensive to maintain and operate as the technology is phased out globally. The review also acknowledged that Australians without mobile coverage and other vulnerable groups will need additional support when legacy voice networks are decommissioned.”
“It is being implemented following a period of extensive public consultation on options to modernise the USO and consideration of current arrangements via the independent 2024 Regional Telecommunications Review. With respect to this consultation, the government has also consulted widely, and feedback from a range of stakeholders was considered in drafting the bill. An exposure draft of the bill was issued in September 2025, and 88 submissions were received from industry, individuals, consumer representatives, state government agencies and local governments. The Regional Telecommunications Review takes place every three years and it presents an opportunity to examine the existing and future telecommunications needs in regional, rural and remote communities across Australia.”
“They are outdated because of the development of technology. Mobile phone services are available in urban areas, many regional areas and along national and regional highways. Mobile phone services currently reach 99 per cent of the Australian population. To say that Australians rely on mobile phones for their connectivity more than ever is to state the obvious. But, despite the breadth of coverage, Australia's longstanding USO does not include mobile services. This bill, which creates the universal outdoor mobile obligation, will change that by establishing a framework to create this obligation, which complements the existing USO. In short, this is a significant and important reform that will bring mobile services within the universal services framework.”
“The USO was originally introduced in the late 1980s, during a period of economic reform, as the Australian government sought to introduce competition into network industries that were previously government owned. To prevent a scenario where regional consumers were left unserved or underserved, the USO was established to ensure that Telstra would continue to provide affordable standard telephone services in these areas. Initially introduced as the community service obligation in 1989, it was renamed the universal service obligation two years later and was followed by the introduction of a telecommunications industry levy intended to recognise the net costs of delivery of services in some loss-making areas. Over time, however, multiple reviews have recommended reform, arguing that the current USO arrangements are outdated.”
“Standard telephone services include a number of features, including access to local, national and international calls; untimed local calls; 24-hour free access to emergency service numbers; priority assistance for those with a life-threatening medical condition; a customer service guarantee, which is an acceptable connection and repair timeframe; a unique telephone number, with or without a directory listing; preselection, which allows the user to preselect another provider for long-distance, fixed-to-mobile and international calls where the standard telephone service is provided over Telstra's copper network; calling-line identification; operator and directory assistance; and itemised billing.”
“So access to telecommunications is not a 'nice to have' or a so-called 'first world service'; it's an essential service that is foundational for public health and safety. Australia's universal service obligation is a longstanding consumer protection that supports access to phone services and payphones and is underpinned by the notion that, wherever people live or work, they must have reasonable and equal access to these services. As Australia's service provider, Telstra delivers the universal service obligation. As part of this, they have to provide standard telephone services and access to payphones.”
“Mobile phones are everywhere. They are an integrated part of society, and most adults in Australia and around the world have one. Many people believe that mobile phones are an essential part of modern day life that benefit us in a variety of ways, such as allowing us to communicate anywhere and any time. You can order food; do your banking; check the weather; track your sleep, health and fitness; navigate your way around; and stay in touch with family and friends on your mobile phone. Mobile phones really are an indispensable part of our daily lives, but, with the rapid advancement of technology, mobile phones have evolved from simple devices used for making calls and sending texts to sophisticated smartphones that can perform a wide range of sometimes critical tasks.”
“Is it fair? Is it sustainable? Does it reflect community expectations? And does it facilitate the conduct of parliamentary business to the benefit of the Australian people? Let's look. Let's find out and make any changes that are necessary to further the overriding objective of parliament, which is to facilitate our democratic system of government and serve the Australian people. I commend the bill to the House.”
“Combining these reviews within a broader review of all the systems and frameworks that govern Commonwealth parliamentary workplaces provides an opportunity to test and measure how the recent reforms other members have spoken about are performing, to make absolutely sure that the legislative frameworks supporting parliamentarians and the parliament continue to be fit for purpose and accord with community expectations. Incorporating the PWSS Act, MOP(S) act and PBR Act statutory reviews within the broader review of the systems and frameworks will enable an integrated examination of these statutes, which will not only reduce the risk of contradictory outcomes but examine the entire parliamentary legislative infrastructure as a whole. So, let's look at it. Is the system working for those who use it? Is it working for those who fund it?”
“Secondly, the provision of staff to assist parliamentarians with their parliamentary business is governed by the MOP(S) Act and the PWSS Act. The MOP(S) Act establishes the legislative framework for parliamentarians and office holders to employ people on behalf of the Commonwealth, and the PWSS Act established the Parliamentary Workplace Support Service, known as the PWSS, to provide centralised human resources and other employment related support to parliamentarians and their staff. The periodic review of the PWSS Act aims to ensure that the performance of the PWSS and the underpinning legislative framework are operating effectively to further the objectives of the PWSS on a regular basis.”
“The bill will ensure that the reviews of those three acts can be combined into this larger review of all legislation, departments and agencies interacting within the parliamentary workplace. Each of these pieces of legislation plays a critical role in supporting parliamentarians and supporting the parliament. Firstly, the PBR Act established the legislative framework for the provision and use of public resources by parliamentarians in connection with their parliamentary business. The periodic independent review of the PBR Act is aimed at ensuring that the act continues to meet its objectives of improving the accountability and transparency of parliamentary work expenses, which are funded by the taxpayer and which must be efficient and effective, reasonable in amount and reasonably incurred.”
“If the system is not understood, or it is hard to operate efficiently, then it's hard to find efficiencies and it's hard to know whether the system is fit for purpose. So, after a series of reviews across some parts of the parliamentary workplace in recent years, this bill seeks to join up multiple required legislative reviews so that the government can complete a holistic review of the frameworks that govern our parliament to ensure they are fit for purpose for a modern, diverse and evolving parliamentary workplace. The bill seeks to amend the commencement dates of the statutory reviews of the PWSS Act, the Members of Parliament (Staff) Act and the Parliamentary Business Resources Act so these reviews can occur at the same time.”
“Taxpayer money funds this, so regularly measuring the effectiveness of the legislation, testing whether spending that takes place to facilitate the operation of the legislation is both reasonable in amount and reasonably incurred, and examining whether the processes used to carry out those tests have been underpinned by the highest standards of probity is essential. We know that parliamentarians and their staff experience complicated employment and expenses frameworks. They are complex. They're often difficult to apply. They're often difficult to administer. They require dealings with many departments and agencies relating to the parliament, and the roles of people who work in those agencies are often difficult to understand and fit within the system.”
“It should not, however, be used to justify avoiding reasonable discussion with stakeholders or failing to engage with innovation, new ideas and new solutions as part of a review process. The level of detail and formality in providing information should be appropriate to the risk of the task at hand and the breadth of the desired outcome to be reached once the task is completed. Probity and spending efficiency are key factors that will be taken into consideration when examining the MOP(S) Act, the PWSS Act and the Parliamentary Business Resources Act. It's important because these are the pieces of legislation that facilitate the operation of our parliament and the conduct of parliamentary business by elected members.”
“It's about acting in such a way that there can be no perception of bias, influence or lack of integrity. Probity is a demonstration of ethical conduct that often exceeds legal requirements. Probity in decision-making, particularly the exercise of decisions regarding the use of public funds, must always be business as usual. Integrity and impartiality, promoting the public good, commitment to the system of government, and accountability and transparency are key elements of this, as is ensuring that value for money is achieved in an environment underpinned by ethical behaviour and fair dealing. Probity is the evidence of ethical behaviour and can be defined as complete and confirmed integrity, uprightness and honesty in a particular process.”
“Spend efficiency methodology is part of this as well because it helps ensure that businesses and governments make the most of their time and money when they acquire goods and provide services. Efficient spend is achieved through data driven strategies like cost optimisation, spend visibility, examination of personnel and, of course, competitive bidding. Then we have probity. Probity and conflict management in government spending, in the operations of parliament and in the parliamentary workplace is critical. Probity is much more than just avoiding corrupt and dishonest conduct, and conflict management is more than just avoiding actual conflicts of interest. Probity involves proactively demonstrating that a process, including a process of review, is robust and that the outcome achieved through that process is beyond reproach.”
“A small bill containing items that were meaningless or which did not produce value to the client could be worse than a large bill which contained meticulously detailed information that enabled the client to determine not only whether the bill was reasonable in amount but whether the costs were reasonably incurred. Reasonable in amount and reasonably incurred must be at the heart of all spending decisions, because a small bill with no discernible value is not fair, just as a large bill with no discernible value is not fair. Any bill with no easily identifiable value for money cannot be acceptable. So effective spend management is about more than just cost saving. It's about making smart expenditure decisions that will improve productivity and efficiency.”
“It is an exercise that needs to be done with a regular cadence in government as well. We ask: What is the best way to spend your budget while ensuring you deliver quality products and services? How can a business ensure it's getting the most bang for its buck? The answer lies in understanding what effective spend looks like, which is again a key driver of this bill. Spending and costs must be both reasonable in amount and reasonably incurred. In my former career as a lawyer before being elected to parliament, it was not enough to send a bill to a client with just the dollar amount on it and to seek payment. Quite rightly, clients are entitled to an itemised bill, which details the task completed, who completed it, when they completed it and how long it took, together with the corresponding amount.”
“And there is a risk that employment conditions are not sustainable, compromising staff retention, which ultimately leads to additional costs and creates the unacceptable risk that the parliament doesn't operate as effectively as the Australian people deserve. Effective spending is about allocating resources to improve desired outcomes. It's not just about reducing costs; it's about making strategic decisions that will enhance productivity, efficiency and the bottom line. To do this in business, a business needs to completely understand its spend data. This includes knowing where the money is going, what is being received in return and how this compares to other options. Once a business has this information, its leaders can start making more informed decisions about where to allocate resources. Considering this is not 'set and forget'.”
“It all matters. When we look at government budgets or at government spending on particular programs, such as conditions for staff employed under the MOPS Act or how the Parliamentary Business Resources Act is functioning, our primary concern should not always be just how much will be spent—although, this is a concern—but rather how that spending will support the working conditions of staff and how this will qualify as efficient use of taxpayer money. Again, whilst quantum is important, it's not everything. So we shouldn't just ask how much it will cost but rather what we will get for it. Spending too much, of course, risks failure when it comes to value for money. But spending too little creates a risk that services are not provided or are provided poorly.”
“Using maximum available resources can mean using all the tools at the government's disposal to influence or compel action in order to create the conditions where people can work in their workplaces safely and with dignity. For example, this could mean using legislative or policy tools to ensure that employers provide decent working conditions for employees, which again is what this bill goes to the heart of. Getting this right is a big job, and it's the government's duty to put everything it has behind it, because what is for sure is that the spending of public money is not something to be taken lightly. Governments must account for and be held accountable for using public funds, including with respect to how our parliament operates as well as with respect to other categories of spending like health care, education, housing and defence.”
“I rise today to speak in support of the Parliamentary Frameworks Legislation Amendment (Reviews) Bill 2026. This bill, at its heart, is about efficiency and how governments can employ efficiency when it comes to spending public money. Governments are tasked with spending public money, and their overriding duty is to spend responsibly, which means that they must spend that money in service of the public good. This includes spending with respect to how our great parliament operates and how the people who work in this building, elected and unelected, are treated. The efficient use of maximum available resources to create a dignified workplace is therefore a key driver behind this bill.”
“Growing the ADF's capabilities in space operations is not a nice-to-have; it is essential. Australia needs a sovereign space capability, and that means a highly skilled sovereign space workforce to contribute to satellite communications and operations, missile warning, ISR, environmental monitoring and space control. This is needed to ensure access to and control of space, to counter emerging space threats and to enhance space domain awareness. This announcement is a significant step in building Australia's sovereign space workforce and strengthening Australia's sovereign space capability.”
“The space domain is critical to defence operations and is recognised as an operational domain alongside air, land and maritime. The Australian Defence Force relies on access to space systems and information, and this reliance will only continue to grow. The military consequences of losing access to space are significant because our forces rely on space based meteorology, communications, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, targeting, positioning, navigation and timing. That is why the recent announcement by the Albanese Labor government of a purpose-built space workforce is so important. Australians passionate about a career in the ADF can now apply for a job in the space domain, with direct entry now open for two new roles: space operations officer and space operations specialist.”
“The problem is not your girlfriend, your spouse or your child. The problem is you and your inability and unwillingness to control your own behaviour. Your problem is that you look for someone to blame and fail to be accountable for your own decisions. You are the problem, and you need to accept that and stop it. Stop committing acts of violence within your own family. Stop the killing. Stop the violence. Stop the death. Stop destroying the lives of those you are meant to love. Stop it now.”
“If a woman has a job and is paid a fair wage for doing it, she has agency and the ability to make hard choices if she needs to. Domestic and family violence is not limited to a certain section of the community. It affects women of every income level. However, empowering those on the lowest incomes, such as women working in the care economy, is critical. Pay rises in that industry together with superannuation on paid parental leave are just two initiatives that give women more options should they ever need to consider them because of family and domestic violence. Finally, there is another section of the community that can contribute to ending domestic and family violence against women. That section is those that are perpetrating this violence. To those perpetrators, please hear this: you are the problem. The problem is not your wife.”
“What that tells us is that relevant stakeholders were in fact the entire community. The entire community has skin in the game when it comes to ending violence against women and children. The breadth of the stakeholders shows just how wide this scourge is. No part of the community is untouched. It's community wide. It's an embedded problem. Everyone needs to understand that they have a responsibility to contribute to eliminating it. The report that was issued after this royal commission concluded contained 120 recommendations ranging from e-safety to alcohol, education and peer support, more funding, and more support in courtrooms. This is 120 recommendations just in one state. There is work to do. Empowering women, as this government seeks to do, is part of the solution.”
“But this is not just a South Australian issue. This is a national issue, which is why this government has invested $4 billion into the prevention of family, domestic and sexual violence since 2022. Natasha and her colleagues needed to hear from all relevant stakeholders, so particular regard was given to the views and experiences of victims-survivors and those with lived experience; First Nations people, their communities and organisations; culturally and linguistically diverse communities; LGBTQIA communities; people living with a disability; children and young people; older South Australians; people living in regional and remote communities; experts, service providers and leaders in domestic, family and sexual violence; medical professionals, including mental health providers; and police and the legal sector, including those involved in court administration and victim support.”
“In her capacity as the commissioner, she was recently charged with holding a royal commission into that violence, which aimed to address several factors. These included prevention—how we can facilitate widespread change in the underlying social drivers of domestic, family and sexual violence; early intervention—how we can improve effective early intervention through the identification and support of individuals who are at high risk of experiencing or perpetrating domestic, family and sexual violence; responding—how we can ensure best-practice responses to these types of violence through the provision of services and supports; recovery and healing—how we can embed an approach that supports recovery and healing through reducing the risk of retraumatisation and supporting victims-survivors to be safe and healthy; and coordination—how government agencies, non-government organisations and communities can better integrate and coordinate efforts across the spectrum of prevention, intervention, response and recovery.”
“My constituent was also at pains to tell me that she received empathetic and caring support from the Legal Services Commission of South Australia, who helped her to understand what was happening in the legal system and what her options were. I'm not going to name the woman who came to see me, and so I can't name those wonderful lawyers at the Legal Services Commission of South Australia who helped her. Instead, I offer my heartfelt gratitude to those women for doing what they could to make an uncertain, confusing and frankly terrifying process just that little bit easier for my constituent. In South Australia, Ms Natasha Stott Despoja AO was appointed as the Commissioner of the Royal Commission into Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence.”
“Then she outlined the confusion and frustration she felt as she tried, at her absolute lowest ebb, to navigate police processes, domestic violence support services and the courts. Despite all of this, she then told me that she had come to see me because she wanted to do what she could to ensure that other women would never share her story. This is what all women want. This is, in fact, what all reasonable Australians—men and women—want. If my constituent, after what she went through, has the courage, resilience and fortitude to want to make change for others, then the rest of society simply has no excuse.”
“A constituent of my electorate of Sturt recently came to see me to tell me her story, which was an absolutely appalling outline of betrayal, failure and devastation. She was here in Australia by virtue of her marriage, without any family of her own and without any support networks. She outlined to me the fear and helplessness she felt after her husband took away her access to her own bank account, into which money she earned from her own job was distributed. She outlined the despair she felt when she was tracked, monitored, spied on by the person who was supposed to love her forever. She outlined the utter desperation and terror she felt when he held a knife to her neck and sexually assaulted her.”
“We also need to continue to amplify the voices of people with lived experience, and living with experience, to have meaningful engagement with them in shaping policy design and service delivery. People with lived experience need to be supported to be able to participate in policy development and implementation decisions, because we know that the best people to help us make change and improve the system are those who have needed it most in the past. Because there is an epidemic of violence against women and children, there are people available to contribute to this, but they need to be supported, cared for and guided through this process because they're willing to be a part of it.”
“This violence destroys lives and communities forever, yet incidents of violence against women and children are increasing. More lives will be lost and many more will be destroyed. And what for? What could be more senseless? The Albanese Labor government understands this and is working towards strengthening prevention approaches by addressing factors that exacerbate violence, such as access to alcohol and access to pornography and misogynistic online content. It also is seeking to improve information sharing for those who respond to high-risk and serial perpetrators of domestic and family violence, not forgetting that sometimes their lives are shattered too because of what they witness and what they investigate.”
“The Australian government established the Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commission to provide national leadership and promote national coordination in seeking to address the scourge of violence against women and children. Working across government and across our communities is the only way we can work together towards ending violence against women and children in a generation. This is not easy. In fact, most of the time it feels impossible. Every day there is a story of a woman dying at the hands of family members, stories of death, stories of shattered lives and families who will never recover. Let's be clear: you don't recover from a woman or child in your family being killed by a husband, by a father, by another family member—you don't.”
“Again, patience is required in this respect. So there is work to do, but it doesn't just start today. The Albanese Labor government has been working on a just and fair transition since it came to government in 2022, and it will continue this work to ensure that this country continues to embark on a prompt yet patient transition that reflects our highest possible ambition, grounded in science and underpinned by credible contribution to global efforts to keep warming down and supporting a safer and sustainable environment for future generations. Aiming for net zero is the bare minimum to avoid the worst impacts of global warming. Australia reducing its emissions is something that matters to our future, our economy and our standing in the world. With patience, we can make the transition while still protecting livelihoods.”
“Bid pricing on the national electricity market is also relevant, which is why in November 2024 the government announced a review of the national electricity market wholesale market settings by an independent expert panel in order to investigate ways to promote investment in firmed renewable energy, with a key priority being addressing price volatility and making bills more stable. The review noted that action to benefit the consumers who pay for energy was critical, including by considering updating the methodology for regulating retail price benchmarks such as the default market offer, considering supporting the development of simple, multi-year, fixed-price retail contracts and considering reforming network tariff structures to ensure that they are more equitable and better aligned with wholesale market dynamics.”
“It is right that the wind and the sun don't send a bill and that unreliable coal-fired power plants do, but it's also right that, even though the wind and the sun don't send bills, the other pieces of the energy puzzle do, including energy companies and the capital works involved in the construction of the infrastructure required to generate renewable energy, as well as transmission and distribution networks. This is where investment is required and where the work is required to bring down bills.”
“We are seeing Cheaper Home Batteries bring down the cost of batteries. Battery availability is helping to regulate evening demand, reducing our reliance on expensive gas and helping bring down bills for everyone. Don and the 250,000-plus other households are leading the charge, and Sturt is leading the charge as well, being third in the country for the uptake of the government's solar battery scheme. Solar sharer is also enabling more Australians to benefit from the transition to renewable energy, whether they are in a position to have solar power or not, including those in South Australia, from July this year. But we know that energy prices are still too high. In the last quarter of 2025, wholesale electricity prices fell by a third, but this needs to flow through to retail bills. That remains the challenge that we need to meet.”
“Having spoken two weeks ago at the GreenSkies Summit at Qantas headquarters in Mascot, Sydney, I can say confidently that the aviation industry is on board with the need to decarbonise. Thousands of South Australians are also on board, including the thousands in my electorate of Sturt who took advantage of the Albanese Labor government's Cheaper Home Batteries scheme. This scheme works. In November last year, Don, a resident of Sturt, wrote to me and said: All good here in Beulah Park. We have reached net zero at our house thanks to the battery your government organised. This is a house built in the 1800s which now has the latest technology attached. No power bill here. Thank you very much. Don is part of the 250,000-plus households across Australia who have partaken in this scheme.”
“In South Australia, we are just getting on with it by focusing on large-scale renewable energy generation and storage, such as wind, solar batteries, pumped hydro, compressed air and thermal storage. We're focusing on distributed energy resources such as rooftop solar, bioenergy and batteries. We're focusing on energy efficiency and demand management; the uptake of zero-emission vehicles and investment in charging and refuelling infrastructure; supply chain development of low-carbon technologies; and research and industry partnerships in low-carbon technologies. Recently HAMR Energy announced an intention to construct an $800 million sustainable aviation fuel facility in South Australia, creating jobs but also drawing on our vast agricultural resources and helping the aviation industry decarbonise.”
“Since 2009, we have lifted net electricity generation from renewable energy from one per cent to 74 per cent. In this financial year, the Australian Energy Market Operator has forecast this to rise to circa 85 per cent. In SA, our aspiration is to achieve 100 per cent net renewables by 2027, and we are on our way. In 2021, for example, we met 100 per cent of our operational demand from renewable resources on 180 days; or 49 per cent of the time. This has provided a certain investment climate which is critical to the private sector, with over $6 billion of investment in large-scale renewable energy and storage projects to date, and a further $20 billion in the investment pipeline.”