Jenny McAllister (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Emergency Management) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you very much, Senator Van, for that question. You're right that this is a technology that potentially has great potential supporting consumers in meeting the energy needs in their own households but also, if done well, supporting our broader requirement to have a grid that is reliable and can respond flexibly to changes in demand across that grid.

Minister Bowen sometimes refers to electric vehicles as 'batteries on wheels'. It's on that basis that the government are taking the steps that we are taking, generally, in relation to electric vehicles and, specifically, in relation to the national standards that are required to make sure this technology is integrated and integrated well. You'll know that we had an extended public discussion about standards for new vehicles and encouraging a greater number of models and a greater choice for consumers in relation to vehicles, and that applied to more-efficient petrol vehicles but also to the importation of a wider range of electric vehicles, including vehicles that are at a price point that will be attractive to the broadest range of consumers.

But you speak specifically of the issues in relation to the grid. It is a matter that the energy ministers have paid a great deal of attention to. In fact, at their last meeting, energy ministers adopted a roadmap that sets out a series of pieces of work that the energy ministers agreed to undertake together to establish the relevant standards for electric vehicles. Minister Bowen has been clear that he would like to see some progress on some of those matters over the course of this year. But we understand that this is a technology where we have time to prepare.