Louise Miller-Frost (Boothby, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'm very pleased to rise and speak to this motion. Climate action means a lot to my constituents. The people of Boothby voted overwhelmingly for real action on climate change, and the Albanese government, with Minister Bowen at the helm of this issue, is getting on with this momentous job. After a decade of going backwards, it is a huge job. I'd like to thank the member for Higgins, Dr Ananda-Rajah, for this motion. She was also elected on this issue, and we are both proud of the steps that this government has taken so far and the broad agenda it has going forward to take real steps in tackling this issue.

I thought I'd update my constituents on where the government is acting on climate. We've lifted our country's emission reduction targets by half, from 26 per cent to 43 per cent, and become just one of 33 countries to enshrine those targets, together with net zero, in the law of the land, sending a message to renewable energy investors around the world that Australia has changed and is open and welcome to renewable investment. We legislated to bring the Climate Change Authority back to play a real and meaningful role in advising government—and have properly resourced it. We put net zero in the objects of the CEFC and ARENA Acts to ensure that they keep this goal front of mind when making decisions and made it relevant to other key industries such as Infrastructure Australia and Export Finance Australia.

We've legislated our $20 billion Rewiring the Nation fund and struck funding deals for vital new energy infrastructure in New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. We've developed and are implementing a four-point plan for better community engagement on transmission, and we've commissioned a review on what more we can and should do to improve social licence. We finalised the law allowing offshore wind development in Australia, and we've designated the Gippsland and Hunter zones and begun consultation elsewhere. Expressions of interest for Gippsland's licences are being processed, and EOIs will open soon for Hunter.

After years of talk, we've agreed to the sensible Capacity Investment Scheme with the states, which will unleash at least six gigawatts of dispatchable renewable power and $10 billion of investment. We've launched the first action, with New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia to follow shortly. We've agreed with the states and territories to finally put emissions reduction into the National Energy Objectives so our regulators and operators have it as one of their guiding principles when setting the rules for our energy market. We've agreed with the states and territories to develop the new National Energy Transformation Partnership to help guide public and private investment. We've signed the Global Methane Pledge and joined the Climate Club and Global Offshore Wind Alliance, and we've given the safeguard mechanism teeth, requiring net emissions reductions from our 215 biggest emitters.

We've passed the electric vehicle discount. This has driven an increase in electric vehicle sales from around two per cent a year ago to around nine per cent today. We funded, and are about to commence, the rollout of the Driving the Nation charging program, which will see a fast charger every 150 kilometres on average on our highways. We've released the National Electric Vehicle Strategy, including, most importantly, a commitment to implement fuel efficiency standards. We are ahead of our target on the policy of making 75 per cent of Commonwealth-purchased cars low-emissions by 2025, and today chargers were opened in the APH public car park.

We commissioned the independent Chubb review to verify and improve the important carbon credit market, to ensure it's delivering real emissions reductions, and we've committed $1.7 billion to the energy savings program providing real financial support to households, businesses and local governments to invest in renewable energy and energy efficiency. We've signed funding agreements to deliver more than 50 community batteries around Australia. There's one planned for Edwardstown in Boothby, and I'm really keen to see more coming into this area.

I know the people in Boothby are very concerned about climate change and they're keen to see action. We had Minister Bowen in Boothby last week, engaging with local climate action groups. This government has approved more renewable projects than any previously, and the faster we get renewables online the faster we can phase out fossil fuels—without the blackouts that will kill social licence. This government is committed to this process and we are taking positive steps forward.

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