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

My electorate of Boothby is very concerned about climate change and seeing meaningful climate action. We should have started action on climate change over a decade ago, and in fact we did, but the Greens political party combined with the Liberals and Nationals to scuttle the most effective and economic form of climate action—the carbon price—and plunged us into a decade of inaction.

There is no quick fix here, but what has the Albanese Labor government done on climate action? We've lifted our 2030 emission reduction targets to 43 per cent, enshrined in law together with net zero. We've legislated to establish the Climate Change Authority and properly resourced it. We've put net zero in the objects of the CEFC and ARENA acts. We've legislated our $20 billion Rewiring the Nation fund and struck deals for vital new energy infrastructure. We are implementing a four-point plan for better community engagement on transition, and we've finalised the law allowing offshore wind development in Australia. The Capacity Investment Scheme will unleash at least six gigawatts of dispatchable renewable power and $10 billion of investment.

We've put emissions reduction into the National Energy Objectives so regulators and operators have it as one of their guiding principles. We're developing the national energy transformation partnership to help guide public and private investment. The safeguard mechanism now has teeth, requiring net emissions reductions from our 215 biggest emitters. The electric vehicle discount has increased EV sales to around nine per cent. The Driving the Nation charging program will see a charger every 150 kilometres on our highways. We've released the National Electric Vehicle Strategy, and we're implementing new vehicle efficiency standards. Around 75 per cent of Commonwealth purchases of cars will be low-emission vehicles by 2025.

We're implementing all of the recommendations of the Chubb review into the carbon credit market to ensure that it's delivering real emissions reductions. The $1.7 billion to the energy savings program provides financial support to households, businesses and local governments to invest in renewable energy and energy efficiency, including for social housing tenants, and we're rolling out 400 community batteries around Australia. We're delivering support for renters and apartment dwellers to make transition to renewables through our solar banks program. The Net Zero Economy Agency will focus on the economic opportunities for the regions at the centre of energy transformation, and we've budgeted $2 billion to the vital Hydrogen Headstart program so that Australia stays ahead in the green hydrogen game.

Energy transformation and climate action are vital for the future of Australia, and we're ensuring that we stay ahead of it.