Tuesday, 3 March 2026

 Lily D’AMBROSIO (Mill Park – Minister for Climate Action, Minister for Energy and Resources, Minister for the State Electricity Commission) (14:21): I am pleased to inform the house that Victoria is the cheapest place to work from home thanks to the work of the Allan Labor government in slashing power bills. We know that working from home works for families, which is why we are backing workers and protecting their right to work from home in law. We are also making sure that when they do work from home it is as cheap as possible to heat and cool their homes, to power those Teams meetings, to cook the family dinner during the lunchbreak or to do a load of washing during the lunchbreak using the free electricity from their rooftop solar during the day and the cheaper hot water thanks to our Solar Homes rebate. $1400 off the up-front cost of their panels saves these workers over $1000 off their energy bills each and every year. That is money back into the family budget. We are backing households to lower their bills through solar and electric upgrades, including the 850,000 Victorian homes with solar panels. Victorian electricity bills are consistently the lowest in the country because we invest in cheap renewables for Victorian families, putting more money back in their pockets.

Working from a luxury cruise ship travelling around the North Pole will not count in our new laws, at least not when I last looked. But whether you work for a small business or a big bank, we are protecting Victorians’ right to work from home and ensuring they save money on their energy bills as they do it. Only the Allan Labor government will back Victorians’ right to work from home, keep power bills low and make life easier and more affordable for all of their families. Those opposite will get rid of all of this and take us backwards. There will not be any working from home, and people’s power bills will go through the roof, as they did when they were last in government.