Wednesday, 30 August 2023

Motions

Energy policy

Melina BATH (Eastern Victoria) (15:13): I move:

That this house:

(1) notes that:

(a) Yallourn power station is slated to close by 2028;

(b) Victoria’s largest power station, Loy Yang A, is set to close by 2035;

(2) recognises that the Andrews Labor government:

(a) does not have a plan to deliver reliable and affordable energy to Victorians;

(b) has not identified any projects or funding partners to deliver the State Electricity Commission;

(3) acknowledges the importance of a commonsense plan to:

(a) build new energy generation;

(b) upgrade Victoria’s transmission network so that households and businesses across the state can access clean, affordable and reliable power; and

(4) further notes that Victorians will continue to face higher energy bills at a time when they can least afford it.

I am very pleased today to rise to ask this house to consider and vote in favour of my motion 182 on the notice paper in relation to energy and the cost of living. If we look around the state of Victoria, there are many key and important issues that Victorians face, that families face, that businesses face and that industries face, but the cost of living and the regular, dispatchable, affordable supply of energy are two of the very primary focuses of many, many Victorians. So I want to bring to the house’s attention the very live issues that are occurring not only in my electorate but across Victoria, whether it be in energy production or indeed in many cases the collapse of traditional energy production and also the transmission of new energies.

Let me put on record that I am speaking on behalf of the Liberals and Nationals and that we are cognisant of a transition to new energies and the need for new energies as old energies come offline over time, but it has to be done in a proper transitional way that does not cripple families and does not cripple businesses and so that the infrastructure from the source of the point of the energy production to the end point – to the household or to the business or industry – is there, available and affordable and does not cripple Victorians any more than we are with an estimated future bill and debt of an eye-watering $200 billion, which we hear that Moody’s have been speaking about in the papers.

I will go through the motion in sections because this is a very big topic. The first section states:

That this house:

(1) notes that:

(a) Yallourn power station is slated to close by 2028;

(b) Victoria’s largest power station, Loy Yang A, is set to close by 2035 …

We know that Hazelwood closed following a tripling of the coal royalty tax. The Hazelwood power station was going to close – there is no doubt about it – but it was going to be a staged closure. It was pushed over the edge of the gangplank approximately seven years ago. With that, there was a whole tumble effect of workers losing their jobs and having to find capacity where they could in other power stations or in other employment.

That is on the cards for the Yallourn power station. I have been out there a number of times in recent years and spoken with the proprietors, EnergyAustralia. I want to compliment them on the very proactive work that they have been doing for their workers. They are very focused on their workers and the transition that they need to make. They have put $10 million into retraining, reskilling, financial advice, jobs and skills research and regular communication from the company about what life looks like after that. They have provided a snapshot to their workers of what that really looks like. People overwhelmingly want to stay in the valley, which is good, but they also want to find other jobs. Some of them are more than willing to retrain, and others are not sure about what their life will look like in the future. I commend EnergyAustralia and the unions for working really closely together to have good outcomes for their workers. That is going to be in 2028. That is going to take offline 1200 megawatts of electricity. This state, at the moment through this government, has to be ready and alive to that.

We also know that Loy Yang A a year ago had a restructure and said that they are going to shut down by 2035. They are the largest power station in our state. They pump out electricity that is no doubt keeping the lights in this place illuminated today. But there is a great concern. In fact the government was so concerned only recently that it popped out a media release saying, in effect, that even though it has got this policy of 95 per cent renewables by 2035 – that is a big ask – it is a bit nervous because it needs Loy Yang A to stay open. Why? Because it is supplying the electricity that is keeping our schools, hospitals and industry going. They need it. They are really, I think, quite panicked and they are prepared to underwrite that coal-fired electricity power station in order to keep those lights on. You can see that they are pushing the policy, but there is a nervousness that Loy Yang could go early, and that is something that Victorians could not cope with or afford.

Also, there is a very important discussion around where to for those people, where to for our community. I know – I am Nostradamus; I can tell – privatisation is going to get a run from the opposite side, from the government benches. They are going to say, ‘Hang on a minute, Jeff Kennett used privatisation’ and talk about the impacts. We are going to hear that because that is all they have got these days. There were efficiencies made post that. With the Andrews government, we see the rhetoric and we see some spin, but they do not have a plan. This state does not have a plan, an investment strategy.

I am so disappointed. We look at the history and what has happened. The Latrobe Valley Authority was set up in 2016. It has had $300 million, or a bit more now, to develop a strategic plan where it can identify to the community, to Victorians, what this is going to do to attract investment to – and I am being parochial – the Latrobe Valley, to the heartland where these closures are going to happen, what it is going to do, how it is going to measure those time lines for investment, what those time lines and what that investment will look like and what are the targeted programs for investment. And what we have seen unfortunately, and it brings me no joy to say this, is that over the past decade the Latrobe LGA, specifically the Latrobe LGA, workforce has declined by over 4000 jobs, while in other areas – and I am pleased for other areas in regional Victoria – we see Ballarat, Bendigo, Geelong, Mildura, Shepparton and Wodonga, six LGAs, have over that period of time indeed increased their jobs to around the tune of 10,000. So the Latrobe Valley LGA is contracting. What this government does, and I am sure we will hear it today, is it says Latrobe Gippsland is growing jobs. Well, Latrobe Gippsland is six LGAs altogether, and indeed there is a great diversity of jobs in that area, including agriculture and many, many others, but you want to refocus the debate away from the very epicentre of change, and these are people that deserve not only lip-service but a definite quantifiable commitment.

We see that the government does not have a plan. We recognise that the Andrews Labor government does not have a plan for Victorians to deliver reliable and affordable energy, and it does not identify any projects or funding partners to deliver the SEC – and let us get onto that topic shortly. We see unfortunately that – and I will finish off on the Latrobe Valley Authority – it put out the ‘Latrobe Valley and Gippsland transition plan discussion paper’, a nice document. It had a focus, it had aspirations, but it had no absolute plan, and this is such a disappointment and a loss for our region. It is a playbook and it is a disappointment, but it is a missed opportunity. When we have the township of Morwell with 11.5 per cent unemployed, the highest rate in regional Victoria, and we see a national unemployment of 3.5 per cent, all the talk does not bring those people jobs unless it actually brings people out and into new industries.

We also know that there was a Hazelwood worker transition scheme and a worker transfer scheme and transition service. These had limited success. We also know that there has been a disastrous government policy about the closure of the native timber industry. We have seen Opal white paper – we are now importing white paper from overseas. How environmentally friendly is that, that they have closed the white paper mill in transition and we are importing that from overseas? This is such –

Members interjecting.

Melina BATH: You will have your turn. We understand on this side that it is important to have a plan, and we also want to see that there is affordable and dispatchable electricity. We have seen energy prices have risen 25 per cent from 1 July. It is approximately a $426 increase per family.

The Essential Services Commission in March released its draft Victorian default offer, which shows the average bill rise is 31 per cent. These are facts. These are not suppositions; these are facts from an independent commission. We see that 400,000 residential customers can expect to pay an increase of $1400 to $1800 a year come the end of this year. We see that impact on businesses and the struggle there is for everyday businesses to keep their doors open, to make a buck and pay their staff, and certainly to keep tax flowing too. And we see that this government is also putting, over its term, 50 new or increased taxes. This is a burden that we really do not want to have to cope with, but indeed Victorians are coping with it.

In relation to the SEC, it certainly was a great thought bubble during an election campaign, but what does it mean? We see that Alan Finkel – a very, very respected gentleman and a scientist – has resigned from the advisory board of the SEC. I think he could see the cards on the wall – that it is really not working for people. They have not identified any projects or funding partners, and that was borne out certainly during the Public Accounts and Estimates Committee and the teasing apart of those documents. They have got the vision but they do not have the partners. They do not want overseas investment, yet it is open to overseas investment. It is a bit like the two-step: they are going two steps forward and one step back. It is very critical.

We look at that, and we see that Marion Terrill, head of transport and city programs at the Grattan Institute, said that the proposed revival of the SEC should be avoided. It is unwise, she said, ‘because governments cannot be relied upon not to interfere with government business’. And indeed that is what we are seeing. We are seeing that the Andrews government has set up the transmission authority called VicGrid, whether it is in parallel with or whether it is in conflict with, in our patch in Eastern Victoria Region, AusNet Services, who are looking to provide those transmission lines for renewable energy – onshore wind energy. We know that Star of the South have been really canvassing people and promoting their vision and the work that goes behind that to get a feasibility study and plan and then get the green light from the federal government. They are just one of about, I think, 30 different proponents who are looking at that offshore wind, and that is a very important component. We know that it is windy in Gippsland. It is one of the windiest places in the world.

There are great opportunities for jobs in the region, and I will come back to that. But once that energy is produced, you have got to have these poles and wires, potentially coming off around Gifford and going through the central part of Gippsland and into the switching station in the Latrobe Valley. Now, that is sensible, but what we are seeing is that VicGrid is actually going to go into competition with AusNet. And is that realistic? Is that important? Is that helpful in the long run? These are some of the questions that are being explored. What you want is a government to support investment in renewables and new energy, and I will get to that too. But what you do not want is them to end up dragging the system down and delaying this production of energy so that what you are actually getting is a cliff, where you are going to have these coal-fired power stations closing – slated closures, going to close – and in the end you are not going to have the renewables online, not because the proponents and developers are not absolutely working to the max but because government bureaucracy and red tape will be slowing them down.

Now, this is a topic of great depth and I have 4 minutes left, so I just want to cover off on a couple of other things. First of all, there are huge opportunities for jobs in our region – jobs out to sea – but they are limited. It is going to be a different format of jobs with offshore wind. We want, or I want and I am sure many people in my electorate also want, there to be that transition, that opportunity for people that were working in coal-fired power stations to transition and use some of their skills but be reskilled to work in the renewable energy sectors. We also know that there are opportunities in Gippsland in Barry Beach and Port Anthony for that, and there will be in Hastings as well. But this government needs to look at the Latrobe Valley and what is happening there, because jobs in Hastings and Barry Beach do not equate to jobs sitting in the centre of the Latrobe Valley.

What the government seems to be very quiet on, and it is just so frustrating, is the Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain. We have got a Japanese government and associated consortium who are ready, willing and able to invest $2 billion into establishing blue hydrogen. This is hydrogen made from coal that will be producing the hydrogen, and then it will be shipped – now piped – to the Port of Hastings and then over to the Japanese economy. There will be zero emissions eventually from the combustion of hydrogen, water and oxygen, but what has to happen is carbon capture and storage.

I am going to hear from the Greens going ‘No, no, it doesn’t happen.’ Well, it does and it can happen. I have been to the Otways; I have seen the work that they are doing there and that they have been doing for 15 to 20 years safely capturing carbon dioxide and storing it inertly in geological deposits. My colleague Danny O’Brien has just come back from a very short – about a week – trip to Britain and Denmark to look at a whole raft of renewables and renewable projects. He said the first carbon capture and storage occurred in Denmark in 1991, and Britain is fast-tracking its developments. He also went to fantastic towns that had been coal towns that are now retooling in a massive way for wind turbine manufacturing and wind blade manufacturing and that also will be looking at hydrogen, I think in that case from gas, with carbon capture and storage.

There are many more things to say. There is nothing more important than safe, affordable, dispatchable electricity, and I have not even got on to gas. The shutting down of gas for new builds is just ludicrous. We know also from Danny going over there that they are looking at hydrogen pumped into or replacing traditional gas and putting hydrogen into homes. If you negate that now, you are missing an opportunity into the future. The other thing that is so very, very important is transmission lines, and I know that there was a rally here only last sitting week at Parliament on the VNI West program and how there need to be other opportunities – a very sensible proposal put through by Mr Bruce Mountain et al. This government needs to listen to that. I encourage everyone to have a fulsome debate. We need electricity, we need gas and we need affordable energy supply in this state.

John BERGER (Southern Metropolitan) (15:33): Today I rise again to speak on another motion, and this time it is on the cost of living and the price of energy. We all know that we are in a cost-of-living crisis. This motion of my colleague opposite Ms Bath suggests that we do not have a plan to deliver reliable and affordable energy to Victorians. Well, we do.

The motion mentions Loy Yang A, which is set to close by 2035, and Yallourn is slated to close by 2028. Last week it was announced that the Victorian government and AGL have signed a structured transition agreement, giving certainty to the closure of Loy Yang A in 2035 and putting workers at the heart of this process. The agreement confirmed the closure date of Loy Yang A, ensuring a 12-year notice period for the closure of that station. It gives certainty to workers, communities and the energy market. It provides for worker support packages well above the existing obligations, and it creates a development fund that is $50 million to repurpose the Loy Yang site and provide greater benefits to the community. It keeps the lights on until we have enough renewables and storage capacity to replace it. This government is ensuring an orderly transition, increasing renewable investment certainty and ensuring we continue to put downward pressure on power prices.

Part (4) of the motion talks about how Victorians can least afford it at the current time. We all know we are in a cost-of-living crisis, and only the Andrews Labor government is tackling it. I want to associate myself with much of what was said in this very building on Monday. I had the great opportunity to catch up with my friend of nearly 30 years, Senator Tony Sheldon of the Commonwealth Parliament. Acting President McArthur, you may know Senator Sheldon and his lifelong work for transport workers and workers in general. On Monday he rightly asked Alan Joyce, the CEO of Qantas, what he has been doing for workers. Well, I am here to say, not much. He illegally sacked thousands of workers, cut their pay and set up 38 shell companies for workers – in a cost-of-living crisis. In fact companies like Qantas are hoarding almost half a billion dollars in flight credits, and this is outrageous.

We know that families are facing growing costs. The war in Ukraine has sent energy prices skyrocketing. We are dealing with the aftermath of a once-in-a-generation – in fact a once-in-two-generation – pandemic, and families are doing it tough. But we know this should not mean that families go hungry and most importantly that our kids go hungry. That is why I was proud to see the Premier and the Minister for Education announce recently that the Victorian budget 2023–24 is investing a massive $289 million to help families with school costs, including with food. We are supporting families with the resources they need to provide healthy breakfasts, lunches and holiday food packs. We are also providing that extra bit of support to ensure that no student is left behind because they cannot afford a school camp or sports event, and we are helping with uniforms and other essential items. We are standing with families that need it the most.

In the 2020–21 budget we unveiled a massive $797 million household and energy affordability package, and this was the budget that first introduced to the public the widely popular $250 power saving bonus. First, for concessions, students and pensioners, it provided relief for more than 900,000 Victorian households in 2021. Then in 2022 and this year, it was expanded to everyone. As we know, by going onto the website you can save. I want to take this opportunity to inform my community that they should apply now, today or tomorrow at the latest, because the latest power saving bonus closes this Thursday. The numbers are massive. I want to put into the record the 25 August estimated application figures for my community of Southern Metro: for Albert Park, 20,730; for Ashwood, 20,688; for Bentleigh, 22,280; for Brighton, 17,796; for Caulfield, 21,887; for Hawthorn, 20,234; for Kew, 18,853; for Malvern, 18,464; for Oakleigh, 28,250 – that is right, 28,250 people, and that is massive. I congratulate the member for Oakleigh in the other place Minister Dimopoulos and his community for such an effort. And of course Prahran, 28,489, also a massive effort – where my office is located. I congratulate my staff on the many days at the Prahran and South Yarra station reminding residents to apply. Sandringham had 18,329 applications.

We are bringing the SEC back, and this is going to lower the cost of living and your power bills. 1.8 million Victorian households have already applied for the $250 power saving bonus. That means $450 million worth of payments to Victorian households. That is real money in the pockets of Victorians. We had another round in March for households to access a second payment. That is $500 since the start of this financial year. No government in Victoria’s history has ever done more to drive the uptake of renewable energy. We will deliver 95 per cent renewable energy in 2035 and cut emissions by 75 to 80 per cent by 2035.

Last year we saw 36 per cent of our electricity come from renewables. We have committed to reaching net zero by 2045. We have set vital targets for storage and offshore wind – 2 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2032, 4 gigawatts by 2035 and 9 gigawatts by 2040, with $27 million to help develop renewable energy at the Port of Hastings. We have also committed to energy storage targets of at least 2.6 gigawatts of energy storage capacity by 2030 and at least 6.3 gigawatts by 2035. And of course we will keep going, legislating our Victorian renewable energy target, or VRET, with a 95 per cent target by 2035, which will create 59,000 jobs, increase gross state product by about $9.5 billion and put downward pressure on bills. We are extending the Solar Homes and batteries program into 2022–‍23 with 64,000 solar rebates and 1700 battery rebates available.

In the 2022 calendar year more than 510,000 households and 49,000 businesses received discounted energy-efficient products and services. On average, households and businesses that undertake efficiency upgrades under the program save $110 and $3700 respectively on their annual energy bills. Even those who do not participate will save on their bills, with households saving $150 and businesses saving $870 over the next 10 years due to lower network costs. And there are of course free L-plate and P-plate licences and online testing programs. This all contributes to lowering the cost of living. There are discounted driver licence renewals for safe drivers, car registration discounts for concession card holders, short-term vehicle registration and free TAFE to give Victorians more training and new careers. We are making nursing and midwifery studies free by covering students’ HECS. There is a cap of one residential rent rise per 12 months and capped council rates, and we are banning Victorian energy upgrades telemarketing, protecting consumers and their hip pocket from being preyed upon.

There is discounted student travel for Aussie residents as well as international students to acknowledge their important contributions. There are free zoo visits and Melbourne Museum entry for kids under 16 and a range of discounts, concessions and entry-level travel vouchers for seniors. There are travel accommodation subsidies for rural Victorians travelling long distances to see health specialists, discounted and free treatment through Dental Health Services Victoria and the school breakfast program. This year a further $69.5 million was delivered to keep the program running with Foodbank Victoria. The delivery has expanded by 2.4 million meals. $32.9 million has been put towards the affordable school uniforms program, which means disadvantaged families can save on essential school items – not just uniforms but also textbooks and stationery. And there is $15.5 million for free period products in all Victorian government schools, $2.9 million Glasses for Kids program, $32.9 million for the State Schools’ Relief program to continue its delivery of the affordable school uniforms program, $3.815 million for the Books in Prep Bags program and $168.724 million over four years and $44.85 million ongoing for the Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund.

I am a renter, and I have been a witness to rent rises. That is why am I proud to be a member of the Andrews Labor government, which has a nation-leading plan on renters rights. Renters across Victoria are embracing more than 130 reforms now in place thanks to the Andrews Labor government’s reforms making renting fairer and safer for all Victorians. From caps on rent increases to ensuring pets cannot be unreasonably refused to stay at home, we are committed to ensuring that renters are not forced out into more expensive homes just to get the basic human rights they deserve. As the Premier said:

Renters across Victoria are embracing more than 130 reforms now in place thanks to Andrews Labor Government’s reforms to making renting fairer and safer for all Victorians.

We on this side of the chamber take the cost of living seriously, and we are working hard to deliver this each day.

Gaelle BROAD (Northern Victoria) (15:44): I certainly rise to speak in support of this motion, and I want to thank my Nationals colleague Melina Bath for putting it forward. Cost of living is a big issue. Everywhere I go I am speaking to people, and that is something that they are talking about. I was visiting a local business owner recently, and he said the prices and the bills just keep going up. It is not an easy time for people in business. I was speaking to one local business in a Swan Hill location, and they were saying it is so quiet for them at the moment, quieter than what it was during COVID. They put that down to people needing to save money and just simply not spending, so it is a very tough time.

Energy is so important. It is important for manufacturing in this state. It is important for business, for cafes to be able to run, for families and homes and for heating. It is extremely important. We have seen the cost of electricity bills just keep going up, increasing by about 30 per cent. The Essential Services Commission has warned that prices are continuing to increase, possibly by up to 25 per cent. This motion talks about the need for a commonsense plan to build new energy generation and upgrade transmission networks so that households and businesses across the state can access clean, affordable and reliable power, but our concern is that in this state there is not that plan. There is not a plan, and transition is far from smooth. Hazelwood power station has already closed, Yallourn is due to close by 2028 and Loy Yang A, Victoria’s largest power station, is set to close by 2035. As my colleague Melina Bath pointed out, this is leaving very big holes in the energy and power supply, and are we ready? The Star of the South, the offshore wind project down around Gippsland, has got a range of different investors and entities involved in it, so it is a significant project. But it is in its very early stages. It hopes to be operational by 2030, but when you think about the other stations going offline, that is a very scary fact. This government has the goal of 95 per cent renewables by 2035, so you would hope that we would be a lot further advanced than that.

The power saving bonus, yes, gives $250 to help households to compare their energy bills, and I do encourage people. That program is due to close tomorrow, so even if you have done a previous round, you can apply. My colleague Emma Kealy has been calling for an extension of that program because people are under so much pressure at the moment with the cost of living. So we have certainly called on the government to extend the power saving bonus at this point in time, but you can go to compare.energy.vic.gov.au to find out more.

I just want to speak also about the VNI West project. This is the Victoria to New South Wales Interconnector West, known as VNI West. It is a proposed new transmission line across the north-west of the state and it is impacting areas in northern Victoria, including Charlton, Boort, Kerang and near Echuca. It has been about 40 years since this type of project has been undertaken, and I would say the administration of it and the process have been shocking to say the least. It has been very difficult for local communities. We have seen a lot of notification rather than consultation. I know people have been outside supermarkets attending what they thought was consultation, but they are just sort of handed a brochure and that is it. I have been to some of these consultation sessions, with people sent into different rooms and divided up, and I think it is important that you are there to answer questions and inform people, because it is just so important to get that engagement.

Transmission Company Victoria, TCV, was set up very quickly just this year to assist with community engagement because it had been so poor to that date, but you can see in a simple ABN search that it has very similar directors to the Australian Energy Market Operator, so some would question the legitimacy of that process. I have certainly raised this issue in the Parliament on several occasions. I have asked the Minister for Energy and Resources about the business case and the costs for this project. The minister said route 5a:

… was identified as most likely to facilitate and expedite project delivery, in particular by minimising constraints to timely delivery.

Locals are concerned that lower population numbers are why the government’s preference is for this particular route. It is concerning when you think about regional Victoria. It contributes billions of dollars to our economy, it contributes food and fibre and now it is also needing to bear that burden for energy and renewables and these transmission lines.

I attended the rally on the steps of Parliament very recently, and there were a lot of people there. I think there were about 40 or even 60 tractors just going around, making people aware of the impact of these transmission lines in the region. We have fifth-generation farmers that have not been consulted, and they are very concerned about these huge transmission lines. We are talking about towers that are up to 80 metres high, going for –

A member interjected.

Gaelle BROAD: Yes, many kilometres. The CFA have also raised concerns about this. They are not able to fight fires in close proximity to these lines, so the worry is that grassfires will continue. These lines will also impact on the ability of farmers to undertake the use of drones and other modern technology in their farming. There are areas where irrigation has been installed – very expensive irrigation – and these lines will have an impact on that, as well as the social impact and the impact on tourism in the region.

When I asked the minister about the costs for this project, I was referred to the VNI West Assessment Project Conclusions Report. To quote page 88 of the report:

The estimated capital cost of Option 5A is approximately $3,499 million … which is comprised of $1,755 million in Victoria and $1,744 million in New South Wales.

But when you look at page 123, it talks about the costs that are taken into consideration and it does state:

The Victorian payments were not included given the timing of the announcement from the Victorian Government.

I am very concerned that people are being approached about these different paths and routes. Has the government done the proper homework on the costs of this project?

We can also say that the government has made decisions about gas: no exploration. They have shut that down. New homes will not be able to install gas. As my colleague Melina Bath pointed out, that does impact future decisions like hydrogen and how we could utilise that. At the moment in this state there has been interest from Japan, as she mentioned, to invest in hydrogen. We need to be looking at those different opportunities.

Batteries are something that we need when we transition. At this point in time what we have in Victoria is very limited. I note the Big Battery at Hazelwood is 150 megawatts, and it only powers 75,000 homes for 1 hour. We have 2 million homes in Melbourne, and we have a growing population, so that demand for energy is only going to increase. We have still got a very long way to go.

If you think about these decisions about electric buses and needing to ensure electric buses, how is that going to work in regional areas where there is not enough power to charge the fleet? There are a number of concerns that need to be addressed in this transition. That is why we need a plan, not marketing and not spin. There has not been much, as we have seen, come of the SEC. There were a lot of big promises made in the lead-up to the state election last year, and we have seen many of them fall on their heads.

Energy is essential. We need to be efficient with our energy, especially with our growing population. I commend this motion. It states that we need to acknowledge the importance of a commonsense plan to build new energy generation and upgrade Victoria’s transmission network so that households and businesses across the state can access clean, affordable and reliable power.

Tom McINTOSH (Eastern Victoria) (15:54): Well, well, well, here we are again. Obviously the Nationals are leading this one, because the Liberals are nowhere to be seen on energy and nowhere to be seen on power in our energy grid or probably power within their own coalition. I might need to sit down. This motion ‘acknowledges the importance of a commonsense plan to build new energy generation’. This is the party that – was it eight, nine or how many years in federal government when you had your hands on the levers – had 22 plans.

I really like this line. I am going to say it again. I do not think their energy ministers knew where their media advisers’ or their policy advisers’ out-trays were, because every time they were off to a media scrum or to a conference, they picked up their bit of paper and that was their new policy. Just to put this very clearly on the record, for the Nationals and the Liberal Party, who are also somewhere behind there working on their energy policies, to talk about commonsense plans and there being a lack of one is absolutely incredible, because a commonsense plan is exactly what this government has. We have led the nation. In the vacuum of leadership that occurred federally, this state led the nation – indeed led many parts of the world – and now we are seeing the fruits of that labour. We are seeing the energy generation. Those opposite are saying, as per usual, ‘The sky is falling in. How are we going to do it? How are we going to reach our targets?’

I agree that energy generation is absolutely critical. It is important to our homes, it is important to our businesses and it is core to the prosperity of our state in ensuring our productivity and our economic wellbeing. But let me be very clear. We are already producing 36.5 per cent of this state’s electricity from renewable sources. We are ahead of our targets. We are absolutely ahead of our targets. Those opposite are talking about power stations closing. We acknowledge the power stations are closing, and we acknowledge, as I have many times in this place, the workers that have contributed for 100 years to our collective prosperity in this state. The biggest issue for our renewable energy transition is ensuring we have enough workers. That is why this side has invested $50 million into clean energy training through our TAFEs. That is why there is $5 million allocated in last year’s budget to Morwell TAFE. It is to ensure that we have the workers to deliver the work that we need to do. We know that our offshore wind programs have 13 gigawatts of capacity that is going to be put in – tens of billions of dollars.

I spoke last time about how with offshore wind the federal coalition left the regulatory framework sitting in the top drawer of the minister’s desk for years on end. It took unions, it took environmental groups and it took Labor to push to get an industry which is important to our energy generation, is important to our prosperity, is important to our workers and is absolutely key to ensuring we get to net zero by 2045. That is our plan. We on this side recognise the problem. The problem is emissions. We need to keep carbon out of the sky. We have acknowledged the problem, which those opposite refuse to do. They might pay some lip-service once or twice and say the right thing in the seat of Hawthorn. In the seat of Hawthorn, where their leader needs to hold on to his seat, he will say the right thing, but everywhere else they are out slowing things down.

Here is a party that went to the election wanting to start drilling our farms for gas reserves that are not there. ‘Let’s get out on the farms and start cutting them open and looking for coal seam gas. Don’t worry about coal seam gas. Rip the coal seams up and let’s let it go wild. Let’s hit the water. Don’t worry about the farmers.’ Coming back, there is no plan, so it is these activities that we are seeing. They are talking out the sides of their mouths. That is why we end up with motions like this. I do not know where Mr Pesutto is. I do know what he thinks about his party dragging back on emissions reduction and dragging back on the state’s energy generation. He wants to have one message for his seat of Hawthorn, but the rest of you have a very, very different message.

Let me step onto the next point: nuclear energy. Okay, ‘We’re going to have gas. We’re going to have coal seam gas. Renewables aren’t working. Even though we’re ahead of all of our targets on renewable energy generation, let’s have nuclear.’ All right, so the latest costing out of the UK says that 3 gigawatts is about $60 billion. If you compare the cost, it is about eightfold the cost of renewable energy generation. What are we going to do? We are going to find a way to establish a new regulated energy generation method or market or whatever you want to call it, so there is something that is cheap, affordable and working with renewables, and they are going to put that aside and build nuclear. Okay, so we are working off gigawatts, and those opposite are talking about the power stations. We are talking about Loy Yang A with 2.2 gigawatts, Loy Yang B with 1 gigawatt and Yallourn with 1.5 gigawatts. Hazelwood is gone; it has been replaced.

I must say rooftop generation in this state is already exceeding the capacity of Hazelwood, so we should never forget what is being generated at the source for households in Victoria as cheap as you can get – 2 to 3 cents a kilowatt – directly into people’s switchboards into their houses.

But back to nuclear: let us say we have four nuclear stations. What have we got – eight regions in here in the upper house – so only half of us are going to get a nuclear power plant. So let us all sit down and we will collectively figure out what seats will get a nuclear power plant. Bev, would you like one over there in Western Victoria? Will we have one in the east, up in the north, a couple in the metro? But who is going to miss out? Who is going to miss out on a nuclear power plant? Well, fortunately there is a solution: the regions that miss out can get the nuclear waste so they can benefit and enjoy nuclear power as well. So here we go: we have got coal seam gas, we have got ripping up farms for gas production and we have got nuclear energy. The ideas are endless.

To come back to the motion, point (3) ‘acknowledges the importance of a commonsense plan’, and that is exactly what this government has – as I have already said, 13 gigawatts of offshore wind and 4 gigawatts through the SEC, a program that was absolutely backed by Victorians at the last state election. We have set up our renewable energy zones. This is not a plan that we are talking about right now, this is a plan, since 2014 in that leadership vacuum, that has been clearly and methodically laid out. We have had our Victorian renewable energy target auctions – 800 megawatts of energy on the first one, 600 megawatts on the second. Business have come to the table. Community have come to the table. We have got a clear understanding of what we are trying to do, and we are going to be powering government infrastructure and services with 100 per cent affordable renewable energy.

I said before we have already got over 1.5 gigawatts of capacity coming off our rooftops. We have got our storage targets – 6 gigawatts. I was up at Hazelwood only two weeks ago at the new battery storage facility up there. It has got capacity to double. These are the investments that we are making, whether it is in Geelong or whether it is our neighbourhood batteries around Victoria. One was announced for Heyfield the other day. They are around metro. Let us go into our population centres and ensure that the generated energy is captured and used at time of need.

There is no doubt there is a big challenge, absolutely. Dealing with climate change and dealing with energy production for our state is a big challenge, but we are up to that challenge, and that is why we have a plan. And I frankly do not think it is good enough for the Victorian people to have an opposition that do not have a plan, that just sit there and say, ‘The sky is falling in’ and ‘It can’t be done’ and ‘We’ll all be ruined.’ Even when you look at the current figures, they say that we are smashing our targets, we are delivering power for Victorians and we are ensuring that we are meeting our zero emission targets, which the federal coalition government could not do. They made us the laughing stock of the world. As manufacturing requires clean energy to ensure clean products, this government and the Labor federal government are going to ensure that we can export our products, because they will have come from an energy source that the world wants to trade in, an energy source that the world will respect – a leadership that the world will respect.

Just back to that point of workers, I absolutely am committed, as is this government, to supporting workers. We had the energy skills expo only a couple of months ago with Minister D’Ambrosio and Minister Tierney. The biggest issue we have got in these 59,000 workers we need in this energy transition is getting enough of them and training them. We are looking after those workers who are transitioning. We thank them, we respect them and we transition them. Our new workers, we capture them young from our high schools. We say, ‘Here is an industry you should be in. Come and power Victoria with affordable, clean energy.’

Renee HEATH (Eastern Victoria) (16:04): While I like the passion that we are seeing from Mr McIntosh over here, I think what we have to remember is that behind every policy is people. Something I will never forget is bumping into a constituent that I met during the Gippsland bushfires in 2019–20. At that time I was working in a relief centre where I was providing free chiropractic care for people that had been displaced from their homes and for CFA volunteers.

I was speaking to this lady who had been through the most devastating situation. She had had her ‍house burnt down, and she was literally sleeping on the floor of a relief centre. She had had her business shut down because the whole town had been cut off. I was amazed, because during that time we were talking to each other there was a buzz of positivity, as you will remember, because people were pledging that once all of this was over they would go and they would fill their eskies and they would get these towns that had just been smashed back on their feet. Well, I saw her a little while after that – actually just late last year. I was excited to see this lady, and I said, ‘Oh, how have you been going?’ She looked me in the eye and said, ‘I wish I’d died in those fires.’ Obviously I was very shocked by hearing that, and I said, ‘Well, what do you mean by that?’ And she said, ‘After that, COVID hit and our business couldn’t open up even though there were no cases for kilometres and kilometres.’ She said, ‘After that we had floods,’ and she said, ‘Now we’ve got all of these new regulations and I cannot financially get our business back on its feet.’ This is something that has absolutely struck me – that we in here have fairly cushy lives. Yes, we work hard, but the average wage in Victoria is $65,000. The starting wage here is just shy of $200,000, and there is no comparison in that. We are facing a cost-of-living crisis that is affecting the average Victorian and that people in here will just never understand. Life is getting harder for these people. Her life had taken a personal beating, her business took a beating, her community took a beating, and now the cost-of-living crisis is making it harder for people like this to get back on their feet.

We have more resources in this state than they do in a lot of places in the world. We have coal, and yes, it is not the best, most clean energy, but it provides baseload power that powers businesses like that of the lady in Mallacoota and that will allow people to get back on their feet and allow them to pay their bills. We have ample gas, but we are not allowed to use it. Our energy bills have risen this year already by more than 25 per cent. That is why I want to remind everyone in this chamber that behind every policy are people, and the people in Gippsland are doing it very tough.

I worked in Morwell as a chiropractor, and I worked there during the time of the Hazelwood closure. For people there, those jobs have not been replaced to the same level. In fact I had a patient who used to be an executive in the Hazelwood power station there, and when I spoke to this patient he was saying that, yes, he has got another job, so that was supposedly a good news story, but at the time it was a part-time job that just came nowhere near the level that he was earning before. The jobs have not been replaced in that area, and people are still recovering from the closure of Hazelwood. Yes, it needed to go; it absolutely needed to go. It was a dirty power station. But these people are still trying to recover from that. The decision has been financially devastating for many of these people.

And now we come to wind turbines. I was recently in Hastings at a presentation on the wind turbines, and they were talking about the massive size and the impact that it will have on the area around Hastings and the amount of money that it will take to build them. Something that I was shocked by was that every single thing you see above the water has to be replaced every 10 years. Every 10 years these massive, massive structures have to be completely replaced. So I spoke to the man afterwards, and I said, ‘If this has to be replaced every 10 years, how on earth is it going to reduce costs?’ And I was very surprised. He actually laughed, tapped me on the shoulder and said, ‘Oh, everyone knows this isn’t going to reduce costs.’ It is true; that is what he said – one of the project managers of this project. We have to be doing more to relieve the cost of living. We absolutely need to.

These are ideological decisions that are being made at a time when the state does not have money to provide financial support to people that are really doing it tough. I want to thank my colleague Ms Bath for putting this motion forward. I completely support her in it because we have to remember that behind every policy is people, and this one is not supporting the Victorian people.

Michael GALEA (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (16:10): I rise to also speak on this motion put forward by Ms Bath on cost of living and energy. It feels like it is a little bit of deja vu. I think there have been a few cost-of-living motions put up by the Liberals and Nationals in the past few weeks.

Bev McArthur: His Majesty’s loyal opposition.

Michael GALEA: Sorry, I will be corrected by Mrs McArthur: His Majesty’s most loyal opposition, yes. Tomorrow will probably be the last day I can get away with saying that before the Governor signs yesterday’s bill into law. I will make the most of referring to you, Mrs McArthur, as His Majesty’s most loyal opposition whilst I can.

Bev McArthur: His Majesty’s most loyal subject.

Michael GALEA: I will happily refer to you as His Majesty’s most loyal subject too if that is what you wish.

But it is with a bit of a sense of deja vu that we are speaking on this again. Look, cost of living is a very important issue right now, perhaps one of the most important issues facing Victorians. I will talk briefly about one of the many things that we are doing to account for that and to address that and to support Victorians.

We do have this motion here on cost of living and energy today, and I really cannot help but wonder about the good Mr Pesutto, the member for Hawthorn. I hope he is connected with cost-of-living issues. I am not sure if he is so much connected with the cost-of-living issues affecting Victorians as he is with the cost-of-living issues affecting him with his legal bills, but that is for another day. What I will say is that this is a government that is not getting bogged down in those petty squabbles like those the good Mr Pesutto finds himself in. This is a government that is getting on with delivering real benefits for Victorians.

I want to make a note of my colleague Mr McIntosh’s speech just now and all the incredible things that are happening in the renewable energy space. It is really good to take a step back. Frankly, it had drifted from my memory that not so long ago we did have a disastrous federal government that brought in no less than 22 separate policies. As he says, bringing a new one, a new press conference, ‘What are we going to talk about today?’ I am only relieved that I do not see members opposite, members of His Majesty’s most loyal opposition yet resorting to bringing lumps of coal into the chamber. I am very glad to see that. I hope that we can maintain the decorum of debate at a higher level than our federal friends, and I trust I will have your willing engagement and support for that.

But there are a number of things that we are doing, and I do wish to acknowledge, firstly, the power saving bonus. It was great to hear another contribution from Mrs Broad, who is also extolling the virtues of this wonderful policy. This is now the fourth round of this program that we are in – $250 into the pockets of hardworking Victorians – and it closes tomorrow, so to anyone who has not yet applied for this current round, the fourth round, which opened in March this year –

Members interjecting.

Michael GALEA: Apparently the Liberal Party is not in favour even though its MPs have been spruiking it in their constituencies. Dr Bach has been spruiking it, the member for Berwick has been spruiking it, but you are saying that we should not be doing it. Once again with this, as with many, many other issues, who knows where you stand. It is a new position every day. Who knows what we are going to get next? But on this side of the chamber we are committed to providing real, meaningful support to Victorians by means of the power saving bonus. This is the fourth round. I reported recently on the huge uptake we have had in this round. I think I reported that more than 1.7 million people have taken it up. I am delighted to say that now 1.81 million Victorians have taken up the power saving bonus.

Bev McArthur: What a shame.

Michael GALEA: ‘What a shame,’ Bev says. What a shame. I hope that you have taken it up, Mrs McArthur. But what a shame, I say. I have done many, many wonderful street stalls, and my colleague Mr Tarlamis down here has done them as well. We have had good turnout from the community. Maybe Mrs McArthur herself might like to come along and get some assistance with it. It is an important service that we have been providing, that Liberal MPs have been spruiking in the communities whilst they have been attacking it in here, and we see that once again today. I will at least give credit to the Nationals that they are enthusiastically supporting this initiative, and I appreciate Mrs Broad’s comments from earlier.

But this is a wonderful policy. Just because Mrs McArthur and the Liberals do not like it – again, I am sure we will have another party meeting by the end of the day and we will know whether they support it or whether they do not. We might need to go to a spill motion – who knows what is going to happen next with that illustrious lot. But this is a policy that is making a real, significant difference to everyday Victorians. As I say, along with Mr Tarlamis I hosted a number of street stalls in Berwick and in Rowville. The turnout was really remarkable. We had one in Rowville, in Wellington Village Shopping Centre. We even had our new federal member for Aston Mary Doyle turn up to give her support and lend a hand, and we had a queue of people, just as we did when I was helping the member for Frankston Paul Edbrooke, another fantastic local member. Joining him at Karingal Hub shopping centre, we had a queue all day. In 6 hours straight we had more than 300 people through. That is $75,000 into the pockets of local Karingal families just in one day.

This is a policy that Victorians have absolutely taken up with gusto. It has been also a privilege to support people. Many of us in this place, and hopefully all of us in this place, have the know-how and the technical wits to process it ourselves, but it is really important that for people that do not – maybe they do not have quite as much confidence – we have been going out and offering that service. I do note even some Liberal members shamelessly spruiking it as well, and then when people call for help, referring them to their Labor members. We will be more than happy to support anyone who comes through, even, as I say, Mrs McArthur herself. I do encourage you to apply for the power saving bonus. It is a great initiative – 1.81 million Victorian households agree. Get on board. Get behind it.

There are many, many other things that we are doing in this space as well. If we look, for example, at the Solar Homes program: just over 250,000 total installs of solar panels, batteries and hot-water systems. This is through $8000 interest-free loans that we are offering to Victorians to reduce their energy costs. Those customers that have taken it up already can benefit from an average of $700 to $1073 annually. This is part of the meaningful change.

As we are doing this, and as we are doing the big-picture reforms, such as the ones that Mr McIntosh talked about – I had the great pleasure of catching up with the Minister for Public Transport today, and we have terrific reforms with zero-emission buses. All of the new buses being delivered for our public network in this state by the year 2025 will be zero-emission buses. It is part of Victoria’s Bus Plan, which is going to deliver better services for us all. We need –

Members interjecting.

The ACTING PRESIDENT (John Berger): Order! There is far too much noise in the chamber.

Michael GALEA: Thank you, Acting President Berger. And thank you, Mrs McArthur, for the lashings of help that you are supplying me with today as well. But zero-emission buses and public transport itself is a huge part of this transition to renewable energy. I know for some time now already ‍– I am sure Mrs McArthur will be absolutely rapt for me to mention this – Victoria’s tram network has been supported by solar electricity. So we have got a solar-powered tram network, we are bringing in zero-emission buses and we are providing for all Victorians, whether you live within the tram tracks or beyond.

There are a number of other initiatives that have taken place as well – far too many for me to go into in fact in the next 90 seconds of my contribution. But I can briefly mention things such as, as I said, the fourth round that we have now of the power saving bonus and helping more Victorian families with access in terms of other cost-of-living measures too. We have got $42 million to install 100 neighbourhood batteries across the state at targeted locations, all as part of a measure to drive down power bills more. And of course we are bringing back the SEC. I know my colleague Mr Berger got a bit of a wild response from those opposite for mentioning Jeff Kennett before, and they say, ‘Well, it was a long time ago.’ It certainly was a long time ago, but it is reflective of how much damage was done to this state and our energy network in the 1990s that it is still an issue of importance today, and that is why we are bringing back the SEC. We will bring it back in a renewable fashion that is going to bring jobs – it is going to bring jobs to the Latrobe Valley, it is going to bring jobs across Victoria and it is part of one more measure of the state-shaping projects that this government is all about.

Over on that side, who knows what they stand for? Do they support the power saving bonus or do they not? Ask a different person, get a different answer. Do they support renewable energy targets? Some of them say they do. Mr Pesutto says they do, but I think their attitude today convincingly says that they do not. Once again you do not know what you want to do, you do not know what you are saying, you do not agree with each other and you are not fit to govern. On that basis I do not support this motion.

Bev McARTHUR (Western Victoria) (16:20): I take total exception to that. He said we are not fit to govern. We will be very fit, very soon. Just get ready, Mr Galea. You will be in opposition. You will be in His Majesty’s loyal opposition, I hope.

Anyway, each part of this motion is important, I have got to say, and congratulations, Ms Bath, for bringing it forward. But I thought I would concentrate on discussing Victoria’s transmission network ‍– no surprise. Part (2)(a) notes that the Andrews Labor government ‘does not have a plan to deliver reliable and affordable energy to Victorians’. I should remind the house that this state once had the most affordable, the most reliable and the most accessible power in the country. Now we have got the most expensive and the most inaccessible. I have got dairy farms operating on diesel generators who cannot get three-phase power. It is a disgrace. You are lucky to get any milk in this town here because my dairy farmers are so adversely affected by your appalling power situation. Part (3) acknowledges ‘the importance of a commonsense plan’ – that would be a novelty for this government – to:

upgrade Victoria’s transmission network so that households and businesses across the state can access clean, affordable and reliable power …

I have often pointed out in this place that for the main part, generation is inseparable from transmission. While local generation, microgrids and battery technology are developing, for the foreseeable future power will still have to be dispatched from generators to end users. For too long we have allowed politicians and activists, particularly on the Greens side – though they did not do well in Warrandyte the other day; I might say you can forget about them in the future – to divorce transmission from generation. They have perpetrated a grand deception that clean, green energy generation is possible without any environmental price to pay. Yet the inescapable reality is, as these communities will testify, that new infrastructure required to connect disparate and remote wind and solar projects to the grid is hugely environmentally damaging. I mean, it is fine here in the City of Yarra or the City of Port Phillip. They can argue for green, clean energy – they have not got a wind tower sitting on their roof. But out there in country Victoria it is an issue.

We all know how substantial the increase in Victorian electricity generation from renewable resources has been in recent years, as well as in our state’s ambitious targets in decades to come, but even today it is apparent that our transmission infrastructure has not kept pace with the changes. And as each additional renewable project comes online the problem becomes more critical. Recent modelling by the Australian Energy Market Operator, AEMO, shows that this year 29 per cent of wind generation and 25 per cent of large-scale solar generation in the Western Victoria and Murray River renewable energy zones respectively will be wasted due to inadequate transmission capacity. Twenty-five per cent will be wasted – so it is happening already.

We have a poor outcome by national and international standards, which will only worsen as our transition continues. Investment in Victorian wind and solar is already being dramatically discouraged. The required transformation of transmission infrastructure in Victoria is a critical issue given the immense capital costs involved and the substantial impact on the environment and on communities. To give you an idea of the scale, AEMO believes 10,000 kilometres of new transmission lines will be required across the country to meet the current renewable energy target. I will say that again; get it into your head: 10,000 kilometres of transmission lines crisscrossing our pristine country environment like a spider web. You would not want that in South-East Metro, I am sure. Is that where you are from, Mr Galea, South-East Metro? Is that the place?

Michael Galea: South-East.

Bev McARTHUR: Yes, South-East, that is right. In my electorate of Western Victoria I have been inundated by the desperate complaints of people facing the first of these new powerlines. The planning and regulatory system now in place is utterly inadequate, perhaps unsurprisingly given the many decades which have passed since we last built new transmission lines. Talk about going back to the future with the SEC – we are going back to the very late past, building transmission lines with completely out-of-date technology. That is how up to date you people are.

The consequences have been unsuitable proposals, inadequate safeguards and arbitrary action by government, which have deprived Victorians of the environmental and planning protections they would normally enjoy. There is no doubt about the immense conflict caused, and I am concerned that the backlash created may damage the social licence for renewable power as a whole. You absolutely are wearing people thin. It is ever more apparent that we need to fundamentally redesign the processes for transmission network planning and construction and to do so rapidly. In my view, the proper way to do this is to constitute a parliamentary committee inquiry on the subject, which could benefit from national and international experience, to deliver a timely but thorough report on the way forward. I will have more to say about this soon – just look out.

The recent release by the Victoria Energy Policy Centre of the plan B report makes this concern more pressing. There is a real risk that in the construction of multiple single-line high-voltage interconnectors we are about to take a fundamentally wrong turn which will cost vast amounts of money, do immense damage and be irreversible for the foreseeable future. In ignoring recent developments in technology and market trends, the Victorian Minister for Energy and Resources and her department unfortunately appear to exhibit levels of stubbornness, institutional capture and political sunk cost fallacy, which inspire no confidence at all.

The problem originates with AEMO, which has pushed a national super network philosophy since its creation in 2010. The Hobart-to-Townsville, 500-kilovolt AC super-grid has been a driving obsession for that organisation. While it might have looked good on paper 13 years ago, we now have a different market, different technology and the need for an on-the-ground project, not a theoretical idea. Suspiciously, everything about the idea has changed since 2010 except the plan to build. The project costings have blown out by many multiples of course, but the reasoning has changed 180 degrees too. Believe it or not, the initial reasoning for the interconnector was to replace the expensive northern black coal with cheaper Victorian brown coal – that was the original idea of AEMO. The world has changed a lot since then, but the project is identical.

Last week it was my great privilege to spend two solid days visiting affected individuals, groups and communities along the route of the Western Renewables Link and the VNI West. They detailed their opposition, speaking about the visual blight of 80-metre towers 540 metres apart across the landscape, the farming impact, powerlines, easements bisecting sometimes small properties, permit restrictions and bureaucracy, biosecurity, property values, ecological damage, firefighting issues and insurance issues. They also spoke about their experience with government. I mean, that is incredible. There are people with major mental issues as a result of this absolutely appalling way of trying to get a transmission system that is not fit for purpose out in our community. Government ministers and Labor MPs simply ignore them. They do not even reply, let alone reason with them. The government pretended initially it was either a national issue, AEMO’s issue, or a private company’s issue, AusNet’s, not the state’s responsibility. And then that all changed. The government have taken it over. Now that they are responsible, it will still be somebody’s fault.

The total inadequacy of existing legislation is no surprise given it is decades since we built new powerlines. With no adequate community consultation, no planning restrictions – you could build a powerline next to a house, but you could never build a house next to a powerline I might tell you – it is a total failure of government policy, and you all ought to be ashamed of yourselves for rabbiting on about needing a different sort of power in this country but without having the transmission to go with it.

Sheena WATT (Northern Metropolitan) (16:30): I rise to speak on yet another motion from those opposite regarding the cost of living. I thank those opposite for bringing us this motion for our attention, because it gives me a chance to share with you all the many wonderful ways that the Andrews Labor government is helping families and communities deal with the rising cost of living. One of the great initiatives of this government is the $250 power saving bonus, which has benefited 1.81 million Victorian households as we speak, and I understand that that number is going up each and every hour as folks rush to get money in their pockets and money in the pockets of their families and their households. But it is worth noting that the applications for the power saving bonus close tomorrow, so if you have not already, jump in and apply. I understand some members of this chamber have not yet. I encourage you all to get on board, because not only is it $250 in your back pocket, it is also a chance to understand whether or not those power companies are taking you and your hip pocket for a ride. What a great opportunity that is.

We are a government that takes energy policy seriously. We have a champion minister in Minister D’Ambrosio, who has done more than any government in Victoria’s history to drive the uptake of renewable energy. In fact only this week I believe she announced that Victoria is the first subnational government to join a very prestigious international wind energy council, and I know that she will have more to say about that. But you know what? It is only one of the very many announcements and deliveries that are happening for Victoria and the Victorian community, including a commitment to 95 per cent renewable energy by 2035, which is just around the corner, and we will cut emissions by 75 to 80 per cent by 2035. That will be here before we know it. Last year we saw 36 per cent of our electricity in this state come from renewables, and we have committed to reaching net zero by 2045. I know we will all be thinking about where we will be in 2045. There will probably be some new faces in this place, but what there will not be is a change in our commitment, from those on this side of the chamber, to achieving net zero by 2045.

We have set vital targets for storage and offshore wind, with some ambitions that are worth celebrating, including investments in the renewable energy terminal at the Port of Hastings. Hastings is a great community held by a great and very enthusiastic local member. Of course there are commitments to energy storage targets of at least 2.6 gigawatts of energy storage capacity by 2030 and at least 6.3 gigawatts by 2035. Gosh, 2035 is going to be a busy year in the energy space here in Victoria. Of course we will keep going because by 2034 we will have legislated our Victorian renewable energy target of 95 per cent. And you know what? That creates jobs – thousands of jobs – 59,000 jobs in fact. It will increase the state gross product by about $9.5 billion, and that alone will help put downward pressure on our bills.

But you know that there is more to celebrate when it comes to us and our state reducing the cost of people’s electricity bills. One which I know those on this side are especially proud of is that we are bringing back the SEC. We know how much the privatisation of the SEC hurt Victorians. We know that it did not work, and that is why we were so proud at that last election to go to the Victorian people with a promise to bring back the SEC. The Victorian people heard that very proudly and supported that call at the ballot box.

The SEC will be 100 per cent renewable and 100 per cent publicly owned. What an enormous benefit that will bring the Victorian people. The State Electricity Commission will initially invest $1 billion towards delivering 4.5 gigawatts of new renewable energy projects by 2035 – that is the equivalent of the replacement capacity of Loy Yang A. Through these new renewable energy projects it will push wholesale prices down and lower bills. Because the government will own it, the State Electricity Commission will not be run for shareholder profits but for all Victorians.

The new SEC will become an energy market proponent under a 10-year plan to deliver cleaner and cheaper energy, with all profits invested back into the system to help drive down power bills. The SEC will help deliver our nation-leading renewable energy and emission targets and thousands and thousands of jobs. I cannot say that enough – 59,000 in fact. We are not wasting a moment. You know what, we are just getting on with it.

The expert advisory panel is guiding the SEC’s work to make sure it delivers the maximum benefits for the Victorian people and the maximum benefits of public energy ownership to the people of our great state, with lower power prices, faster investments in renewable energy, storage and lower emissions. Our pioneer investment mandate has been released; I recall the minister talking about that in the other place not too long ago. That will help us find the first projects for the SEC to invest in. How very exciting is that? There is a lot of interest from industry to help us deliver on these projects. The market search will help us build a pipeline of longer term investment opportunities, generating thousands of jobs and billions in investment while helping Victoria achieve its nation-leading renewable energy and storage targets. Later this year we are going to hear more about what those successful projects look like; I know that I cannot wait for that time to come.

But that is not all. In fact as a state we are pretty committed to the youngest Victorians, those whose names are not on the power bills but who do tend to cost a little bit to the hip pocket. But no more, with the introduction of funded, free kinder for three- and four-year-olds saving families, or their grown-ups, up to $2500 per child each year. We have slashed the price of train travel across our state, so if those littlest folks want to go and visit their grandfolks, there are regional fares capped at the metro fare rate – how exciting. And when they grow up to be a little bit bigger, they can get the benefit of the Get Active Kids vouchers of up to $200. Sometimes families do it tough, and when they do it tough there is support available, with utility relief grants of up to $1950 for households.

But we know that there is more to do. That is why, looking after our veterans, we have established the Australian-first Veterans Card Victoria. That is why in this state we have free sanitary products for women and girls at 700 public sites right across the state. And you know what, it is not enough for us to fund all of this by ourselves. We have come a-knocking to our friends in Canberra, and we will continue to work with them and the other states and territories to look at options for easing the cost of living for families right here.

I know that there is more, including the $3.75 million energy assistance program, which is a free one-on-one service helping Victorians struggling with power bills. It helps them navigate the energy market, apply for eligible grants and concessions that may be about, find and switch to better offers and sometimes just fix up some bills with the errors that are in there. The fact is that too many folks that have eligibility for concession rates just do not get them. But now, with the assistance of the energy assistance program, that can be achieved. Research from the Consumer Policy Research Centre shows that just 7 per cent of eligible concession card holders were not receiving these energy concessions. In some of the other states this number is far stronger, so we have a lot more to do.

We have provided targeted bill relief to eligible concession card holders. There is, which I found really good to know, a 17.5 per cent discount on electricity bills all year round and 17.5 per cent on gas bills for six months of the year, including the wintertime when we know that gas bills can get quite tough. These rates are among the most generous in the nation, so that should bring some comfort to Victorians. There are also grants and other things available, and can I encourage Victorians to get onto the app and find out more. Thank you very, very much for the chance to speak on this motion today.

Melina BATH (Eastern Victoria) (16:41): I appreciate the call to sum up this debate on energy generation and cost of living. In doing so I will make some comments about those who have contributed to the debate, and I thank everybody for their interest in this topic.

I note Mr Berger touched on the contents of the motion. He spoke about the Andrews government’s latest media release on Loy Yang A, and he made mention of the fact that the Andrews government is in effect underwriting Loy Yang A staying open till 2035. The government I believe is quite panicked. In its push for renewables it would actually send this company out of business at an earlier stage, and that would be an absolute disaster for us, who need to keep electricity in our homes, in our hospitals, in our schools and in our industry. He did also go on a bit of a canter around Labor’s policies and included in his discussion the family pet.

I really appreciate Mrs Broad’s discussion on the important work that needs to be done, that many farmers on the VNI West potential route feel that communities, farms and agriculture have not had that deep discussion and that conversation – I think one of the farmers said to me, ‘There’s a big difference between notification and consultation,’ and they feel like it is the former not the latter – and on the impost of ever-increasing electricity costs on families, manufacturers and businesses.

Mr McIntosh reverted to the line that the best line of defence is attack, and if he is talking about the federal government, he can feel like he can have a swipe at all of us. That is the status quo. But he did raise the issue about the SEC, and I want to put on record that people of Morwell, the electorate of Morwell, which covers the Latrobe Valley, did not vote for the SEC. Thirty-one per cent of that population voted for Labor, and the Nationals are in the seat of Morwell. They could see through this flawed policy, and they certainly did not vote for it.

In terms of Dr Heath, I thank her for her contribution. She certainly said that behind every policy is people. She also highlighted the fact that there has been a 25 per cent increase in electricity bills, which is hurting people, families and industry.

Mr Galea spoke passionately about the power saving bonus, but he failed to acknowledge that the Essential Services Commission only this year said that the energy increases impost on homes and families is over $400 this year alone, let alone the last six, seven, eight years, so the power saving bonus does not actually cover that direct cost impost that families are facing.

Ms Watt spoke about various other things as well as the power saving bonus and again the SEC. It was not supported at the ballot box in the seat of Morwell.

There was no discussion around hydrogen. It is too hot a topic for this government to speak about hydrogen. Whether it be blue hydrogen that will then facilitate green hydrogen, they will not go near it. They are nervous Nellies on this topic.

I would also like to thank my colleague Mrs McArthur, who spoke very passionately and wisely about the need for this government – and all governments – to get the transmission of renewables and new energy correct. It is not happening through VNI West. She wants to set up an inquiry on transmission and our transmission future, and I think that would certainly be endorsed by the people in her Western Victoria electorate – the farmers and the ag industry sector, which feel like they will very much feel the impost of large transmission lines, which could be done in a better way. I think she may have even referenced this very useful document, No Longer Lost in Transmission by Bruce Mountain, as an option B that should be considered.

Council divided on motion:

Ayes (16): Matthew Bach, Melina Bath, Jeff Bourman, Gaelle Broad, Georgie Crozier, David Davis, Moira Deeming, Renee Heath, Ann-Marie Hermans, Wendy Lovell, Trung Luu, Bev McArthur, Joe McCracken, Nicholas McGowan, Evan Mulholland, Rikkie-Lee Tyrrell

Noes (22): Ryan Batchelor, John Berger, Lizzie Blandthorn, Katherine Copsey, Enver Erdogan, Jacinta Ermacora, David Ettershank, Michael Galea, Shaun Leane, Sarah Mansfield, Tom McIntosh, Rachel Payne, Aiv Puglielli, Georgie Purcell, Samantha Ratnam, Harriet Shing, Ingrid Stitt, Jaclyn Symes, Lee Tarlamis, Sonja Terpstra, Gayle Tierney, Sheena Watt

Motion negatived.