❓ Mr Jones asks about the Cook Labor government's residential battery scheme, and the Minister outlines how it will support access to clean energy, create jobs, and boost local manufacturing in WA.
AnsweredQoN 9Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
Residential battery scheme
9. Mr Hugh Jones to the Minister for Energy and Decarbonisation :
Thank you, Mr
Speaker. I also congratulate you on your appointment, and you will not catch me
talking when you are talking.
I refer to the Cook
Labor government's plan to make Western Australia a renewable energy
powerhouse.
(1) Can the minister outline to the house how the
Cook Labor government's residential battery scheme will support more Western
Australians to access cheap, clean and secure energy sources?
(2) Can the minister outline how the scheme will
help create more jobs and make more things in WA?
9. Mr Hugh Jones to the Minister for Energy and Decarbonisation :
Thank you, Mr
Speaker. I also congratulate you on your appointment, and you will not catch me
talking when you are talking.
I refer to the Cook
Labor government's plan to make Western Australia a renewable energy
powerhouse.
(1) Can the minister outline to the house how the
Cook Labor government's residential battery scheme will support more Western
Australians to access cheap, clean and secure energy sources?
(2) Can the minister outline how the scheme will
help create more jobs and make more things in WA?
AnswerView source ↗
Congratulations on
your election as the Speaker of the House.
I thank the member
for Darling Range. Congratulations, again, on your very hard-fought win.
(1)–(2) We know
that Western Australians know that we need to transition to a clean energy
economy. It is not just an environmental issue; it is economically
sensible. It is the way the world is going. It is where investment is putting
its money. Anyone who thinks otherwise is taking an ideological position, not a
sensible position and not a sensible economic position. We know that renewable
energy is the cheapest form of energy generation. We also know that Western
Australian households have taken it up in swathes. In fact, Western Australia
has one of the largest uptakes in the world. We actually have 40% of our energy
in the South West Interconnected System generated by rooftop solar panels. Mums
and dads and families have invested in solar panels. Sometimes it was a big up-front
cost, but they did it and they are reaping the benefits with lower bills and they
are supporting our energy transition.
As I said, it is one of the
highest uptakes in the world. In fact, panels actually generate more
electricity than the largest coal-fired power station in Collie. We need to
leverage that capacity as well as supporting families with cost-of-living
measures. We need to strengthen the grid and deliver secure, reliable and
affordable renewable energy. That is why the Cook Labor government, the
Premier, took to the election our battery rebate scheme, which has been hugely
popular. That will be a residential rebate. It is a rebate for residential
customers. It will be $5,000 for Synergy customers and $7,500 for Horizon
customers, acknowledging that the costs are higher in remote regions.
Importantly, we are supporting low- and middle-income earners. We will also
match this scheme with a no-interest loan scheme, which will support people
with the gap. Batteries can cost between $10,000 and $15,000, and it will
support those households with that gap and make it much more available for
people on low and middle incomes. This is the most generous scheme in the
country. It is more generous than the federal scheme. It is more generous than
the New South Wales scheme. We will more than double the number of household
batteries on our system, helping families to save around $1,500 a year on power
bills.
We are working very closely with industry to roll out
the scheme. I met with them last week, or the week before last. They were
incredibly constructive around the development and the implementation of the
scheme, and we will continue to work closely with them to make sure they have a
pipeline of work that is not overly demanding, and that they actually have a
pipeline of work to see them through for the lifetime of the scheme. Importantly,
we want to support making things here in WA. We are giving $50 million to
support manufacturers of local batteries. Local manufacturers will get grants
of up to $50 million. They will be available to support them to make them here
in Western Australia.
Over the weekend, we saw Federal
Labor announce its cheaper home batteries program, which will provide people
with $4,000. This announcement complements our scheme and means that more
people will have access to affordable home batteries so that they can get the
benefit of all of the power that they are generating during the day, store it
and use it at night. This is a great policy for Western Australia and it will
complement ours. Peter Dutton and the Liberal Party came out against it
straight away. Straight off the bat, they absolutely did not support this scheme.
They said it would only support the wealthiest. Well they certainly had not
seen details of this scheme in Western Australia, because our zero-interest
loans make it accessible for low- and middle-income families, and thanks to the
new virtual power plant technology, they will provide low-cost firming for the
grid as well.
We know that Peter Dutton and
the WA Libs do not support this scheme. But we know what they do support. They
support a nuclear power plant in the South West. That is what they support.
Peter Dutton claims that he and the Libs will make power prices lower, but they
cannot explain how. He has taken his plan to Western Australia and the nation
for nuclear power plants around the country, including in the South West town
of Collie. Instead of investing in renewable energy, he wants to build nuclear.
His plan assumes there will be a reduction in electricity use by industry of 30%.
That is what his plan assumes. It assumes a 31% reduction and everyone knows
that a growing economy needs more energy, not less. We are not going backwards
in our energy consumption. We are going to need five times more in the next 20
years.
His plan also involves more coal-fired
power stations. That is what it involves—more coal-fired power stations
and a requirement to use them beyond their useful life span. They are coming to
the end of their useful life span and the market does not support them anymore.
I am interested to know what the Leader of the Liberal Party thinks of the
nuclear power plant. Will he be going out with Tom White, standing next to him
on the hustings, taking it to the people of Churchlands saying, "We're going
to build nuclear power plants. We don't support you getting batteries or
government subsidised batteries" to the good people of Churchlands, who I
bet have taken up solar panels on their homes with gusto, many of which will
have batteries? Is he going to be standing next to Peter Dutton, backing in the
nuclear power plan for Western Australia? I look forward to that. I look
forward to him taking that and I look forward to him explaining how he will
stand with Peter Dutton and what his constituents, the people of Churchlands,
really think of that plan. Thank you.
The Speaker: Members, that concludes question time.
House adjourned at 4:54 :00 pm
your election as the Speaker of the House.
I thank the member
for Darling Range. Congratulations, again, on your very hard-fought win.
(1)–(2) We know
that Western Australians know that we need to transition to a clean energy
economy. It is not just an environmental issue; it is economically
sensible. It is the way the world is going. It is where investment is putting
its money. Anyone who thinks otherwise is taking an ideological position, not a
sensible position and not a sensible economic position. We know that renewable
energy is the cheapest form of energy generation. We also know that Western
Australian households have taken it up in swathes. In fact, Western Australia
has one of the largest uptakes in the world. We actually have 40% of our energy
in the South West Interconnected System generated by rooftop solar panels. Mums
and dads and families have invested in solar panels. Sometimes it was a big up-front
cost, but they did it and they are reaping the benefits with lower bills and they
are supporting our energy transition.
As I said, it is one of the
highest uptakes in the world. In fact, panels actually generate more
electricity than the largest coal-fired power station in Collie. We need to
leverage that capacity as well as supporting families with cost-of-living
measures. We need to strengthen the grid and deliver secure, reliable and
affordable renewable energy. That is why the Cook Labor government, the
Premier, took to the election our battery rebate scheme, which has been hugely
popular. That will be a residential rebate. It is a rebate for residential
customers. It will be $5,000 for Synergy customers and $7,500 for Horizon
customers, acknowledging that the costs are higher in remote regions.
Importantly, we are supporting low- and middle-income earners. We will also
match this scheme with a no-interest loan scheme, which will support people
with the gap. Batteries can cost between $10,000 and $15,000, and it will
support those households with that gap and make it much more available for
people on low and middle incomes. This is the most generous scheme in the
country. It is more generous than the federal scheme. It is more generous than
the New South Wales scheme. We will more than double the number of household
batteries on our system, helping families to save around $1,500 a year on power
bills.
We are working very closely with industry to roll out
the scheme. I met with them last week, or the week before last. They were
incredibly constructive around the development and the implementation of the
scheme, and we will continue to work closely with them to make sure they have a
pipeline of work that is not overly demanding, and that they actually have a
pipeline of work to see them through for the lifetime of the scheme. Importantly,
we want to support making things here in WA. We are giving $50 million to
support manufacturers of local batteries. Local manufacturers will get grants
of up to $50 million. They will be available to support them to make them here
in Western Australia.
Over the weekend, we saw Federal
Labor announce its cheaper home batteries program, which will provide people
with $4,000. This announcement complements our scheme and means that more
people will have access to affordable home batteries so that they can get the
benefit of all of the power that they are generating during the day, store it
and use it at night. This is a great policy for Western Australia and it will
complement ours. Peter Dutton and the Liberal Party came out against it
straight away. Straight off the bat, they absolutely did not support this scheme.
They said it would only support the wealthiest. Well they certainly had not
seen details of this scheme in Western Australia, because our zero-interest
loans make it accessible for low- and middle-income families, and thanks to the
new virtual power plant technology, they will provide low-cost firming for the
grid as well.
We know that Peter Dutton and
the WA Libs do not support this scheme. But we know what they do support. They
support a nuclear power plant in the South West. That is what they support.
Peter Dutton claims that he and the Libs will make power prices lower, but they
cannot explain how. He has taken his plan to Western Australia and the nation
for nuclear power plants around the country, including in the South West town
of Collie. Instead of investing in renewable energy, he wants to build nuclear.
His plan assumes there will be a reduction in electricity use by industry of 30%.
That is what his plan assumes. It assumes a 31% reduction and everyone knows
that a growing economy needs more energy, not less. We are not going backwards
in our energy consumption. We are going to need five times more in the next 20
years.
His plan also involves more coal-fired
power stations. That is what it involves—more coal-fired power stations
and a requirement to use them beyond their useful life span. They are coming to
the end of their useful life span and the market does not support them anymore.
I am interested to know what the Leader of the Liberal Party thinks of the
nuclear power plant. Will he be going out with Tom White, standing next to him
on the hustings, taking it to the people of Churchlands saying, "We're going
to build nuclear power plants. We don't support you getting batteries or
government subsidised batteries" to the good people of Churchlands, who I
bet have taken up solar panels on their homes with gusto, many of which will
have batteries? Is he going to be standing next to Peter Dutton, backing in the
nuclear power plan for Western Australia? I look forward to that. I look
forward to him taking that and I look forward to him explaining how he will
stand with Peter Dutton and what his constituents, the people of Churchlands,
really think of that plan. Thank you.
The Speaker: Members, that concludes question time.
House adjourned at 4:54 :00 pm
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