CHRIS BOWEN MP
MINISTER FOR CLIMATE CHANGE AND ENERGY
E&OE TRANSCRIPT
PRESS CONFERENCE
SYDNEY
WEDNESDAY, 9 APRIL 2025
SUBJECTS: Labor’s Cheaper Home Batteries; Coalition Gas Modelling; Queensland Coal-Fired Power Stations.
CHRIS BOWEN, MINISTER FOR CLIMATE CHANGE AND ENERGY: Well, it's great to be here at the Smart Energy Conference and Expo and right around us, you can see the ever-increasing range of products available to Australians to take control of their own energy, particularly batteries. And it's particularly great to be here days after announcing with the Prime Minister, Labor’s Cheaper Home Battery policy. Which, as you might be able to tell us is one I'm pretty pleased and proud of, because it really increases the choices for Australians and we lead the world in solar, we have a long way to go on batteries.
Right across Australia, there are families that look at the cost of the battery, just couldn't quite make it stack up, roughly 30% off the cost of the battery, this is a game changer for those decisions that Australians make to lock in permanent bill reductions. $1,000 if you've already got solar panels, more than $2,000 if you're doing it as a package - solar panels and batteries - a year, permanent reduction.
So I've been very pleased with the response from across the board, the sector. I’ve spent the last week with Labor candidates around Australia who are telling me that their constituents have responded very positively to this policy. You’ve got batteries here that range from $4,000 to the more expensive, higher end offering, which means that of course that Australians have a full range of choices to go for a more inexpensive battery to a higher end battery, all covered, all covered by the Cheaper Home Batteries policy.
Also today, I note that the Liberal Party has released their scam-phlet, which is their alleged modelling of their gas policy. I mean, I've seen longer menus in a restaurant than this, and there's 135 words in here about the impact on electricity prices. James Patterson told the Australian people that they've been working on this for a year, which works out at a very low productivity per word, if this is a year's work. This is a nonsense document filled with holes, and I'll be having more to say to that tomorrow at the debate.
But the biggest problem with this document is that it doesn't mention the word nuclear. Nuclear is the signature of the Opposition’s energy policy. They released their nuclear modelling last year, we showed a massive reduction in the usage of gas in the energy grid in coming years, almost immediate reduction use of gas. Now they’re scrambling to say what we need is more gas and retrofited this document, which was clearly preferred after budget reply when you read it, which shows that this is policy on the run. And we have seen policy after policy fall over in this election campaign, from the Opposition, an Opposition Leader walking away from policies that he announced just weeks ago in the middle of election campaign, which shows and confirms the Liberal Party is not up to the job. Peter Dutton is certainly not ready to be Prime Minister are not up to the task in these uncertain times when they are rewriting policies and producing scam-phlet’s like this in campaigns so I'm looking forward to debating Mr. O'Brien tomorrow the national press club, where no doubt we'll be having plenty more to say about our competing visions - nuclear costs, solar saves. Over to you guys.
JOURNALIST: Ted O’Brien’s been saying today that, that scam-phlet that you call it, that they’re the only party that has a policy that actually reduces energy prices.
BOWEN: Well, I mean, again, they’ve been all at sea. Peter Dutton, Susan Ley and Ted O'Brien have all said different things about when this will impact on electricity prices. So they got a lot of clearing up to do as soon as today, about what this actually, allegedly means.
Here's the fundamental problem, they say, introducing 50 to 100 petajoules of gas will solve the problem, we've ensured domestic supply of almost 650, which they just ignore as irrelevant. And they've now got a plan of 50 to 100. Now that has been necessary to ensure strong supply of domestic demand and to deal with shortfalls which have been predicted for the best part of 20 years in every successive Gas Statement Of Opportunity. Mr O’Brien is scrambling, retrofitting and writing a policy on the run, falling apart before our eyes. This has less credibility than their work from home policy, which they've now officially pretended to scrap.
JOURNALIST: [inaudible] Do you think that sort of approach would actually have an impact?
BOWEN: Well. Well, I don't see how it does when you consider that what they're talking about is 50 to 100 petajoules. Giles?
JOURNALIST: Yeah, I had a question about Queensland. They announced yesterday the extension of their coal fired power stationd. Is their intention to rip up their renewable energy target? Do you have a response to that and are you concerned that that would impact your own ability to reach your target of 82% renewables?
BOWEN: Thanks, Giles, and congratulations on your promotion to editor in chief by our office of the magazine you run. Look, I've seen the reports. Obviously, I will take time to assess the impact. I mean, there's a little bit of a misunderstanding, I think, in a broad debate that somehow state targets make up the national one. That's not the case. We don't count the state targets when we're setting the national target. What we look at is the direct impact of government decisions at all levels, and we will look at that and what impact this has.
So obviously, I've made clear, and this is no surprise, that coal being the most unreliable form of energy, coal fired power being the most unreliable form of energy. Now, as well as being high, very high emissions. Of course, we've not got a day in the last two years where we haven't seen a breakdown in a coal fired power station for our energy. That is why we are proceeding the massive roll out of renewable energy and dispatchable energy supported by storage to ensure that states can make the decisions that they want to make, to move, when appropriate, away from coal fired power stations and close them in part of an orderly managed transition. Orderly managed transition is what we are enabling. States can make the decisions about how they fit within that, but the alternative is, as I said in there, a deliberate policy decision to keep coal fired power for longer as a matter of policy.
JOURNALIST: Can I just ask one more question about the home battery scheme? You said that you have been preparing it for 18 months. I was wondering why you chose to release now in the middle of the election campaign, when you said you couldn't actually sign the documents?
BOWEN: Well, because, Giles, it’s a reasonable question, but because it's a second term offering. We're giving the Australian people the chance to choose the competing energy plans. A big part of our plan is cheaper home batteries. The chief executive of the Smart Energy Council is here. John, do you want to say anything?
JOHN GRIMES, SMART ENERGY COUNCIL CHEIF EXECUTIVE: Well, firstly, a massive congratulations, minister to you and to Prime Minister Albanese. This is about a cost of living election and fixing energy system in this fantastic policy for home batteries. [inaudible]. This election is a sliding doors moment for people in Australia, we have two competing visions, one that will destroy our industry, and one will build on the progress that we’ve made today. My message to industry is this, vote as though our industry depends on it, because it does. My message to people in Australia is, vote with your solar batteries. Vote by tearing up your electricity bills. Vote by transitioning gas and tearing up your gas bill. Vote by getting an EV and running it on a smart Australian sunshine. So at this at this point in time, we are putting everything on the line because we have everything to play for. Minister, we acknowledge you’re amazing in the first term of government, and we're looking forward to building that on that in the second term.
BOWEN: Thank you.
JOURNALIST: Minister, we've seen a big fall in the price of oil recently due to Trump's tariffs and the concerns about the global economy, which also reflects the price of gas holding. Do you expect you'll see low energy prices as a result of that?
BOWEN: Well, anybody that makes rash assumptions about energy prices in a fast moving geopolitical economic environment I think is bold. We will take advice from Treasury and other expert bodies about impacts on energy prices across the board, on geopolitical environments I’m not going to provide a running commentary.
JOURNALIST: Have you got concerns about energy security, given we're seeing these geopolitical concerns?
BOWEN: Well, I don't have any immediate concerns, but I make the general point that the best way Australia can ensure energy security is to rely on more of our own energy, which is sunshine and wind supported by transmission and storage and gas peaking, that's the best investment we can make in energy security.
JOURNALIST: [inaudible]
BOWEN: Well, obviously I haven't heard what Allegra said because I’ve been out here, but I recognise her ongoing role and a constructive role that she plays in energy debate. But the Liberal Party has a signature policy, allegedly, on nuclear. But the problem is you haven’t been able to see it. I mean, it's nowhere in the materials, nowhere in the advertisements, mentioned in passing in their commentary and not mentioned in their latest iteration of their alleged modelling, not mentioned, absent. So my challenge to Mr Dutton is this - if it’s your signature policy, tell the Australian people about it, explain it. Again, I look forward to the debating Mr O’Brien tomorrow at the press club.
JOURNALIST: I’ve got a question about the battery rebate. There's an important difference with the SRES that the government is purchasing them. Can you explain a bit why that's important and how it affect costs?
BOWEN: Well, the government will purchase the certificates because we want to ensure that there's absolutely zero chance of any impact on energy bills in a negative way, a big decision we’ve made. We also had the view that this would be the best and the easiest way of implementing the policy to ensure that Australians get all the benefits of improved storage, but the issue is dealt with appropriately. So it's a big investment quota.
JOURNALIST: What do you think a batteries policy means for the demand for gas well?
BOWEN: Well we model and estimate it will generate 1.1 million batteries between now and 2030. It's part of our fix, it doesn't add to that. It's just part of the embroidery of getting to 82. It doesn't change necessarily forecast for any particular energy use, at this point. We’ve been very clear gas has got a role to play as peaking, putting aside its role in different industries and home heating. 5 million Australian homes directly using gas, some electrifying, but a big job. So that's the way I see it. I mean, 1.1 million new batteries is a massive boost to Australian's ability to store their own energy and be in control of their own energy. Apparently, Mr Dutton and Mr O'Brien don’t think that's a good idea.
JOURNALIST: What do you say to people who say, obviously, this should be means-tested?
BOWEN: Well, I disagree, because it's in everyone's interest to stabilise the grid for everyone, particularly the interested people who take a battery, but all interests of all energy consumers. And on this point about wealthy, let me just deal with this nonsense that Mr Dutton’s invented that somehow batteries, I'm glad he's acknowledged the existence of batteries, it wasn't long ago he was saying they hadn't been invented yet, but now he's acknowledged their existence. He thinks that they're aiming for the welfare. Well, there's 10 times more solar in Blacktown in my electorate than there is in Bondi. People I represent, these are people who are low and middle income owners who made the decision to invest in solar but they have not been able to afford a battery. This is for them. This is for the suburbs of Australia. This is a policy firmly targeted at hard working Australian families in the suburbs. They've invested in solar and now want to have a battery. We're making it 30 per cent cheaper. Mr Dutton can explain why he thinks that batteries are only for the wealthy. All right, that's a wrap. Thanks, everyone.
ENDS
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