Kylea Tink (North Sydney, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes:

(a) Australia's housing stock has lagged behind that of many countries in terms of its thermal performance and the performance of heating, cooling and other energy systems; and

(b) inefficient buildings are unhealthy for occupants and lead to a range of poor respiratory and cognitive outcomes, particularly when inefficient fossil fuels are used indoors for heating or cooking; and

(2) calls on the Government to consider incentives and regulation to accelerate building improvements such as:

(a) a specific economy-wide target for improvement in energy performance;

(b) a specific target within the National Energy Performance Strategy for building electrification;

(c) improving the thermal envelope of buildings through insulation, double glazing, draught-proofing and other initiatives; and

(d) providing assistance to low-income households, in particular those living in rentals and strata buildings, to reduce energy consumption and associated bills.

This is the critical decade for climate action, and the next three years will fundamentally affect our children's future. As I've said many times in this place, in order to rise up and meet this challenge, we need a comprehensive suite of policies. The parliament is off to a good start, setting a floor of ambition of net zero by 2050, and through the work of ARENA, but one of the clearest and most actionable plans we could make is to electrify everything. Improved energy efficiency and demand management can greatly reduce the challenge we have ahead of ourselves as we transition to clean energy by slashing the required investment in renewables, transmission and the distribution network upgrades. The emissions reduction we require over the next 10 years can be achieved, while controlling rising costs of living largely driven by inflationary and volatile energy prices, through electrification. It's going to make our job easier and cheaper.

Discussion around energy efficiency has long been seen as the poor cousin to renewables as part of Australia's decarbonisation plans and debate. Until recent changes to the National Construction Code, Australia's housing stock has lagged behind that of many countries in terms of its thermal performance and the performance of heating, cooling and other energy systems. Quite simply, inefficient buildings are unhealthy for occupants and lead to a range of poor respiratory and cognitive outcomes, particularly when inefficient fossil fuels are used indoors for heating and cooking. Ultimately, improving energy performance is essential to decarbonisation, but it also importantly delivers cost-of-living relief, something that so many Australians are currently seeking.

Electrifying everything and ensuring it is powered by sustainable and renewable energy puts downward pressure on the energy bills of Australian households and businesses. Effective measures can also make our businesses more competitive, support Australian jobs and reduce the strain on the energy system, all while reducing our greenhouse gas emissions. It sounds good, doesn't it?

So what must we do in this place to deliver these outcomes for Australians? Based on the work of experts such as Saul Griffith and others, a minimum economy-wide target of 40 per cent improvements in energy performance by 2050 should be put in place. To achieve this, all new buildings, vehicles and industrial developments should be obliged to deliver net zero emission from the get-go, from energy through efficient design, electrification, on-site renewables and contracting renewably generated grid power. In addition to this, millions of existing buildings must be retrofitted through a combination of incentives and regulations in three main areas, including electrification, thermal envelopes and lowering the cost of living.

Firstly, electrification is crucial to delivering full operational decarbonisation of buildings, whilst also delivering health improvements by removing dangerous nitrous oxide and other pollutants associated with gas cookers and unflued gas heaters. These pollutants have been found to account for 12 per cent of childhood asthma, amongst many other conditions. In this context, I urge the government to develop, through their current review of the National Energy Performance Strategy, a specific target for electrification. Secondly, improving the thermal envelope of a building through insulation, double glazing, draught-proofing and other initiatives can substantially reduce the energy needed to cool or heat it.

Thirdly, efficiency reduces energy consumption and, consequently, associated bills, but achieving it may involve out-of-pocket costs. For this reason, delivery of the energy efficiency or electrification targets must include assistance for low-income households, with a particular focus on rentals and strata buildings. My electorate of North Sydney is primarily a high-density living area, with 58 per cent of private dwellings being flats or apartments and 42 per cent occupied by renters. In this context, I would support targeted incentives along the lines of the United States' Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 and/or concessional loan structure where repayments are made via utility bill savings for low-income families and small businesses. At the same time, I believe we must also incentivise landlords to embrace energy efficiency measures, improving the quality of their assets whilst also providing greater service and ultimately cost relief for their tenants.

I can clearly envisage a North Sydney of the future, with a reliable, affordable, renewable grid powering our fully electric and highly efficient homes, businesses and industry. With economy-wide targets, education and incentives, this future will be a reality.

Mike Freelander (Macarthur, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Zali Steggall (Warringah, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

Susan Templeman (Macquarie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

TEMPLEMAN () (): I am very pleased to speak about an issue that is close to the heart of those who live in densely urban areas and equally close to the heart of people who live in the more rural, regional and periurban community that I represent, the electorate of Macquarie. There has been a decade of a lack of action on these matters, and the member for North Sydney is absolutely right to raise these things as key issues. It's something we are very focused on—getting better energy performance that will put downward pressure on emissions and energy bills and making sure that there is a plan to deliver better energy performance for homes and businesses. Both these things are key.

Where are we right now? Right now we are ranked at the bottom of the list for energy efficiency when it comes to housing. Of the top 25 countries for overall energy consumption, Australia ranks 18th for efficiency, or the amount of unnecessary wasted energy, lagging behind economies like Mexico, Turkiye, India and Indonesia. As Assistant Minister Senator Jenny McAllister says, we want to make every watt count. I really couldn't put it better than that. Every bit of energy matters.

I have the dubious honour of having a very highly energy efficient house thanks to a bushfire; when my house burnt down in a bushfire in 2013, in the rebuilding we were able to do some things that we weren't able to do when we first built that house in 1990. I've seen the benefits of having thicker windows—not actually by choice; they were mandated under the bushfire building codes. The skyscraper windows that I have do create a much more energy efficient environment for us, so I have lived those benefits. I'm not by any means going to recommend that as a pathway for other people to enjoy greater energy efficiency. But I certainly would like to see a whole lot of other people retrofitting or, more to the point, building places being able to build things that are more efficient.

One of my local community builders, Blue Eco Homes, is leading the country in building passive homes. They have improved fresh air, so they are great for people with health problems including asthma; they have carbon zero status; they have a reduced carbon footprint because they are using less energy; they are using sustainable materials; they are doing waste management on site; they are using energy efficient appliances and water efficient tapware. Joe and Merylese have been recognised across the country for the work they are doing. It's no surprise to me that the Blue Mountains, where we value the climate and our environment and we want to make things better, are really leading by acting on this. Blue Eco Homes were most recently winners of the HIA New South Wales region GreenSmart Sustainable Home award. We know it's possible; the challenge is to make a commonplace and widespread.

Last year we were able to do some significant things with state governments. In August we agreed to raise the minimum energy efficiency standards for new homes by updating the National Construction Code. That was a really practical, tangible thing to do. It means that the new whole-of-home annual energy use applicable to the home's heating and cooling equipment, hot water systems, lighting, swimming pool and spa pumps, and on-site renewable energy systems will be introduced. It will come in for most states by October this year. That will make homes more comfortable, help households with cost-of-living pressures, and support our transition to net zero. That is one really tangible example of the work this government is doing.

In addition, we have the National Energy Performance Strategy. It is frustrating that we are talking about this now in 2023 when things could have happened a decade ago but we are working really hard to catch up that lost time. The $15 million investment over four years to provide a framework for that demand-side action is going to have a long-term result but it is going to take a long-term effort to do it. There is so much agreement in this chamber that, if we want to see emissions down, we need to support families. Our community batteries will do that. Our 85 solar banks, our solar gardens that we will roll out, will help people who might not be able to have batteries themselves. That is the sort of initiative that we will be continuing to bring to this parliament.

Debate adjourned.