Thursday, 3 April 2025

Bills

Victorian Energy Efficiency Target Amendment (Energy Upgrades for the Future) Bill 2025

Second reading

Debate resumed.

Peter WALSH (Murray Plains) (14:55): Just to refresh, when I left off I was giving a lecture to those on the other side of the house that somehow think they get something for nothing when it comes to these particular programs. These programs are factored into people’s power bills, so there is nothing for nothing in this world. That is another example that those on the other side somehow think that you can charge someone something or you can tax someone something and give it to someone else and then they think it is free. Nothing is free, and these are not free as well.

I also want to put on the record that I support the reasoned amendment that has been moved by our side of the house on this particular issue. To announce a review, to have it half finished and then bring in legislation before that review is done is illogical, not good corporate governance and not good parliamentary oversight. Let us have the review. Let us see what the review says and then talk about having legislation. When it comes to the review itself, I have also personally got some concerns about that. To have a government department review itself has no veracity. I just do not see how that is logical. The member for Gippsland East talked about putting the fox in the hen house. I think it is actually putting the poacher in charge of the game reserve, because a department reviewing itself is not fair dinkum. You need to have someone independent, someone from outside come in, so there is some veracity with that particular review. Because as I said in my contribution before the lunchbreak, it was a while ago and I would hope the systems are much better, but a lot of people had fridges magically turning up in a truck. Not only did they get fridges, but they were fridges that were not actually fit for purpose. Someone actually got the credits out of that; someone actually made money out of that particular program. So let us make sure the government goes back and gets someone from outside the department to do that review and, most importantly, makes that review public.

The government has a habit now of using every excuse they can, and we have seen recent cases at VCAT about getting freedom-of-information information, but the government uses every reason it can to make sure that if there is anything that comes out that may be in any way critical of the government, it is hidden. They do not want anyone else to see it, they do not want anyone else to know what the mark of their homework was: ‘Let’s stash it away. Let’s make it so hard that someone can’t find it or can’t access it publicly so there’s no actual scrutiny of this government.’ I think the Labor government that we have now has lost sight of the principles of the Westminster system, where the executive government is actually accountable to the Parliament. I would like to think that this particular review might actually be tabled in Parliament, rather than making it an interdepartmental review that, if it is damning, someone will walk through the cabinet process or attach cabinet-in-confidence to it. Let us make sure those sorts of reviews are actually tabled in Parliament so everyone knows exactly what has gone on there.

Others on the other side talked about how this is giving cheaper power to people, and how somehow there is this magic pudding where if you give people money that they have already paid for, it is giving them cheaper power. The thing that most people do not realise, I think, is that the huge investment in renewable energy and the huge investment that is going to go into VNI West through my electorate, through the member for Mildura’s electorate, through the member for Lowan’s electorate and through the seat of Ripon is going to be paid for by power consumers. It is not some magic pudding where all these powerlines are going to be put in to transfer power around this place to make renewables cheaper. It is actually going to be paid for in power bills.

I noticed that some on the other side, and the Greens, made comments about actually getting cheaper power because of renewables. The rhetorical question I would ask those on the other side, and particularly the Minister for Energy and Resources, is: if we are getting cheaper power through renewables through all these programs, why has the price of power gone up so much? Why have people’s power bills gone up so much if there is all this cheaper power out there? There might be cheap power out there when no-one wants it, but when you actually want that power, you have to pay. So I just do not know where the logic is. Somehow we are being told we are getting cheaper power, but on the other hand our power bills are going up by a significant amount. The Minister for Energy and Resources is at the table and has made comments over time that we will see this happen. I am yet to see it.

Jackson TAYLOR (Bayswater) (15:00): It is a great pleasure to rise and speak in support of the Victorian Energy Efficiency Target Amendment (Energy Upgrades for the Future) Bill 2025, and wowee, that is a mouthful. Can I first just start by acknowledging and thanking the fantastic Minister for Energy and Resources. The minister for energy was actually out in the Bayswater electorate recently talking to some local businesses and hearing about the wonderful work that they are doing. This is not the first time the minister for energy has been out to Bayswater. I also had a visit with the member for Monbulk – the Acting Speaker at the moment – and the minister for energy, and it is always wonderful to have the good minister down in our patch in conjunction with doing all the important work outside of getting out into local electorates. That includes the detailed and important work to get this bill to this place for consideration and for debate. This is another important bill when it comes to the Allan Labor government’s commitment to renewable energy and to driving down the cost of energy for Victorian households, whether it be in Bayswater or whether it be in all parts of our state. So I thank the minister. I thank her team and of course the department. I think it is very important to acknowledge the people who get the work done.

I want to acknowledge a few speakers who have spoken before, the members for Eureka and Mulgrave, who gave fantastic contributions to this place. And the member for Clarinda as well spoke fantastically and spoke about the importance of the Victorian energy upgrades program for his constituency. And I know that the member for Laverton, who is always fantastic on her feet, gave an absolute ripsnorter of a contribution. I always enjoy the energy and passion that she exudes.

I also want to just briefly touch on the member for Murray Plains opposite. I feel like for a moment he was channelling the energy I sometimes come into contact with on Facebook where people say, ‘It’s not free; it’s taxpayer funded’, and it is like, ‘Yes, I know. I know.’ There is a way that government works. You see, we have revenue and we have expenses. Yes, there are programs that are funded by government, and yes, there are ways that we take money in through revenue measures. And yes, of course the Victorian energy upgrades program is subsidised by the government. It is a fantastic program, a very successful program, and I think most people do not need the reminder that things that are run by the government are in part or wholly paid for by government. Think of free TAFE. Sure, we could put a brochure out that says ‘taxpayer-funded TAFE’, but I think the idea people get, and it is actually easier for people who want to access that service to understand the message that for them there is no cost. But thank you to that member and to everyone who wants to comment on my Facebook about that. I look forward to receiving future comments and feedback on that exact matter.

This is a very important piece of legislation. I do not believe those opposite in the coalition are supporting this legislation. I cannot remember the last time they did support legislation that was energy related. There is always a reason. I am not sure what the reason is this time. I think I have heard a bit of it around the review, and I know there are sensible reasons why it is occurring as it is occurring, but obviously they have their views. They have found their angle, which is all good and well, but some of the reasons why energy legislation is not supported by our friends in the coalition – most of these people are here because they want to serve their communities – you cannot help but think are a little bit ideological. We hear the word ‘ideological’, and this legislation is about securing this program to help drive down the cost of energy and support Victorian households. We talk about cost of living and we talk about those important things, and yet those opposite cannot find it in their hearts to support this legislation to continue to support Victorian households and families doing it tough.

You cannot help but think it is ideological. When we talk about ideology, obviously we know the track record of our government, the Allan Labor government, and the previous Andrews Labor government, which has taken strong and bold action when it comes to renewable energy, when it comes to climate action and doing everything we possibly can to drive down the costs of energy through sensible policy in working with a range and raft of stakeholders and not ignoring the signs and not ignoring the facts as we see them. And we know as well, I will add, that we have got a fantastic partner in Canberra in the Albanese Labor government and energy minister Chris Bowen, a fantastic bloke. He is doing great work. I have thoroughly enjoyed his Instagram reels of late. I think for one of them he might have got the idea from me. I was not the first person to do it, but I am just saying I have inspired at least one other colleague in the country, so I am very happy to help. Chris Bowen is doing a fantastic job, he is a great bloke and obviously he has been a fantastic partner in Canberra.

But we know when we talk about ideological matters, we had 10 years of leaders getting essentially cut down – you had Abbott, you had Turnbull – obviously Malcolm is having a renaissance at the moment. He was at the press club the other day, good for Malcolm, good on you, citizen –

Cindy McLeish: On a point of order, Acting Speaker, the member for Bayswater has strayed a long way from the bill, and I ask you to bring him back to the bill.

Jackson TAYLOR: On the point of order, it is fair to say it has been a very wideranging debate, Acting Speaker.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Daniela De Martino): I was about to say it has been a fairly wideranging debate, but I will draw the member back to the bill.

Jackson TAYLOR: Fair enough – talking about Malcolm’s renaissance is probably pushing the limits of wideranging debate. However, what I will say is we had 10 years of inaction in Canberra, and that has put us back. I thank the Minister for Energy and Resources for bringing legislation to this place in a form which continues to do the important work and that does not ignore the science, does not ignore the facts and supports Victorians and Victorian households. Essentially those 10 years were about delaying and blocking and delaying and blocking. You can probably easily argue that that is what those opposite in this place have done when it comes to energy; again, they are not supporting this legislation, which is disappointing. But we have now got a federal opposition led by Peter Dutton that wants to introduce nuclear power into Australia, which is –

Mathew Hilakari interjected.

Jackson TAYLOR: Indeed, shame, member for Point Cook, shame. However, it is interesting that at no point has Mr Dutton explained how it will reduce prices. At no point has he explained what the future for industry is with nuclear in this nation. He has not explained how much waste there will be. I think he famously, or infamously – did he? – talked about it being the size of a Coke can. I think he did. Clearly that is not the case. Nuclear waste is a very sensitive and careful matter that deserves proper and correct attention, and Mr Dutton is absolutely missing in action when it comes to the facts of his ill-thought-out policy which is not backed in by Victorians, and it is not backed in. from my understanding, by any state leader in the country. Nor is it backed in by the Leader of the Opposition. I think the best we have got from the Leader of the Opposition is asking people for their thoughts – ‘What do you think?’ No state leaders want it. In the budget reply Mr Dutton made, he mentioned nuclear once.

Paul Edbrooke interjected.

Jackson TAYLOR: And it is illegal in Victoria. Thank you very much, member for Frankston, that is bang-on. Thank you for the – I was going to say fact check, but –

Cindy McLeish: On a point of order, Acting Speaker, I would like you to remind the member on his feet that it is unparliamentary to respond to interjections.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Daniela De Martino): It is out of order to respond to interjections, member for Bayswater.

Jackson TAYLOR: I am sure the member for Eildon will pick up every other member. She herself will not take up interjections in the Parliament, I have no doubt. Decorum is important, Decorum absolutely is important. I want to ask Mr Dutton: how much will your nuclear cost? How much will it cost? Is it $500 billion? Is it $200 billion? Is it all taxpayer subsidised? Like, what is the go, man? What is the go? It is just absurd.

Here you have in Victoria a sensible minister and a sensible government who are standing up for Victorians, who are getting on with the important work of seeing through our nation-leading, world-leading renewable energy targets and our storage targets. We are absolutely kicking goals. That is not to say we are perfect. There is more to do, but we will be sensible about it. We will not support nuclear. We do not want nuclear reactors in our neighbours’ backyards. I commend this bill to the house.

Jade BENHAM (Mildura) (15:10): It has been a wideranging debate, but I am always more than happy to participate in a debate centred around energy and the Victorian Energy Efficiency Target Amendment (Energy Upgrades for the Future) Bill 2025. Because it has been such a wideranging debate, it does give me another excuse to put forward my community’s view on energy and the reasons, which the member for Bayswater asked about in his contribution, that we oppose energy bills. For this bill there has been a reasoned amendment submitted by the shadow minister relating to the review – and why wouldn’t you finish a review before legislating and amending bills? But like I said, energy bills give me an opportunity to discuss my community’s perspective.

Last Sunday the Speaker of the house and I participated in a Women’s Climate Congress panel around climate change and renewables. No-one is saying we do not want a cleaner, greener feature; we just want it well planned and well done – right the first time. But this prompted me to reach out to a group that has come together out of necessity in the Wimmera and the Southern Mallee and up through the electorate of the member for Murray Plains, who was discussing the VNI West project – transmission lines to get the renewable energy that we are producing in the north of Victoria to the city. I reached out to this group, Farms for Food, and I have been talking a lot to this group. They advocate really well in a measured, considered, appropriate way. They do it so well. Like I said, this group has come together out of necessity, and they are very, very good. They are very clear in their messaging. I reached out to them and said, ‘If you could get something on the record, what would it be?’ I am going to refer to my notes throughout, because I do not want to leave anything out. What Farms for Food had to say was this:

[QUOTE AWAITING VERIFICATION]

I guess it’s really about destroying the very fabric of our communities and lives. It’s insidious and impacts us on every level. It’s destroying the social fabric. People are divided. People are feeling disempowered and hopeless within their lives due to the uncertainty and the certainty exuded by proponents and hosts of projects. Mental health around uncertainty and certainty is a huge issue.

And it already is for farmers, more than you could ever imagine.

Business and property ramifications – how will our businesses be impacted, our homes, our future plans centred on these things? Health impacts – we don’t want to raise families near open cut mines. Promises that the radiation levels will be contained are not reassuring.

Of course mineral sands mines are needed for the mechanics that go into batteries and a lot of mobile phones and a lot of renewable, cleaner things that we use and would need built.

An apology for broken promises won’t bring back someone’s health. Similar concerns regarding proximity to turbines which will be at a scale not built inland before. What of blade shedding, electromagnetic fields, transmission lines? Some of us are looking at all three of these things entering our lives – it’s too much. People can only cope with so much, and this is too much.

We worry about the longevity and sustainability of our communities, as we have no doubt that people will feel forced to leave. There will be those who would like to leave but may not have the financial ability, and they are the ones who will be most hurt by the exodus from our towns – those services, businesses, people and vibrancy gone. It is appalling to think of what is likely to happen.

We worry about suicide rates. Never mind that our districts will no longer be farming districts. The landscape and environment will be irreparably changed. We have made the decision to remain and push back while there is some hope.

they still have hope –

But when it comes to the crunch, we feel we would have to leave, and that is devastating. We are committed community people whose families have been here for generations.

Leaving has its own set of issues. The loss of a community you are strongly tied to, the loss of proximity to family and friends, the loss of homes, dreams, hopes and a farming future.

It is going to create waves of renewable refugees who will experience anguish over what’s been lost. We are most angry about what leaving would do to our children. They feel such a sense of belonging and connectedness within their community. Losing that will be hard on them.

Another concern is the future of agriculture and therefore the existence of agricultural communities and small towns under threat. The lack of respect for country towns and living the last true village lifestyle, where people are so connected and interconnected, is being fractured and wiped out by government and corporations on three fronts: property rights have been erased, land access, compulsory acquisition and caveats. Our highly productive food-producing soils are being degraded by industrialisation and mining. It should be protected for food security into the future.

Land banking – the government is allowing international corporations to buy up our farms for energy production, mining and tree plantations for carbon farming – our best land.

it is important to stress that; soil is really important –

As long as corporations are given free rein to buy up and put caveats over our prime farmlands, we will lose more and more farming families and therefore towns.

They keep saying our towns are in decline, but they are driving them to extinction through poor planning, money grabs –

and I will add poor policy decisions and a reckless drive to renewables without proper planning.

Lily D’Ambrosio: On a point of order, Acting Speaker, I know that the debate has been wideranging. Notwithstanding the absolute sentiments that the member quite rightly holds on these broad matters, I really think it is important for us to come back to the aims of the bill, please.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Daniela De Martino): Member for Mildura, it has been a wideranging debate, but I will draw you back to the bill, as I did for the member for Bayswater.

Nina TAYLOR (Albert Park) (15:19): Victoria is proud to be leading the country in delivering climate action and transitioning to renewable energy. We are bringing back the SEC to drive down power bills and create thousands of jobs, and the Allan Labor government has legislated ambitious targets for renewable generation of 65 per cent by 2030 and 95 per cent by 2035 and nation-leading storage targets of at least 2.6 gigawatts by 2030 and 6.3 gigawatts by 2035. We have also legislated offshore wind energy targets of at least 2 gigawatts by 2032, 4 gigawatts by 2035 and 9 gigawatts by 2040. These are critical in achieving our world-leading climate targets to reduce Victoria’s emissions by 45 to 50 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030 and 75 to 80 per cent by 2035 and achieving net zero emissions by 2045.

Why am I discussing these? They are directly relevant to the subject matter that we have before us. I just want to respond because there were a number of aspersions cast about us reaching these targets: ‘What have you got these targets for? Are you getting there?’ Victoria is well on the way to meeting these targets. We have more than tripled the share of renewable energy since 2014 and are now generating 39 per cent of our power from renewables. I hope that allays some of the concerns raised by the opposition, but I must say if there is ever a reason to oppose renewables, they will find it. Let me tell you, they will find it. Every time we debate bills on renewables they will find many reasons why we should not transition.

I want to acquit some further queries that were raised. One was regarding the cost of certificates. It was alleged by the opposition that the cost of certificates would outweigh any benefits of transitioning to renewables. Let me just make a qualification to that. This claim compares the Victorian energy upgrades (VEU) certificate price to the price of Australian carbon credit units, ACCUs. But ACCUs are a carbon offset scheme, not an energy sector efficiency scheme, so we have to be careful about comparing apples and oranges. I feel there was a little bit too much latitude in the comparison that was put forward by the opposition, so I just want to clear that up. Comparing the price of planting trees in outback Western Australia to the price of installing a heat pump hot-water system in Victoria just does not make sense. That comparison, frankly, is not credible when we are talking about the debate we have before us, so I just wanted to clarify that.

Also there were claims made about the VEU, and aspersions were cast about how it is able to put downward pressure on electricity prices. Of course the VEU leads to lower power prices even when you account for the cost of certificates – this is a very, very important point, so I really want to drill down on this – because it has a big impact on reducing overall demand for power and therefore wholesale prices. To put it simply, if we did not have the VEU, power bills would be higher. I hope that also allays some of the concerns, because that has been a continuous theme today in the opposition threads, so I just wanted to counter that with a factual rebuttal.

We know that the opposition have consistently opposed the VEU and tried to abolish it when they were last in government, which actually makes no sense to me when you consider just how popular it has been with Victorians. We know that since the project commenced in 2009 over 2.4 million households and 179,000 businesses have installed discounted energy-efficient products using the program and have seen the savings on their bills every day since then. I was reflecting on a visit I had with the Minister for Climate Action and Minister for Energy and Resources. We went to Equinix in Port Melbourne, and through energy rebates from our government they have installed solar panels as far as the eye can see. They are actually futureproofing their company. They have done the math and they can see the economic benefit, let alone the environmental benefit. Even if you strip away any belief whatsoever in climate change – because the opposition appear to have zero belief in that – the economics simply stack up in making this transition, and the sooner you make it the better. It is really encouraging to see the investment of private industry. They get it, so if they get it, I do not know why the opposition do not. It is a little bit perplexing.

Another really strong and important element of the Victorian energy upgrades program is that it has created benefits for both participating and non-participating households and businesses through reduced demand for energy brought about by improved energy efficiency, which in turn puts downward pressure on retail energy prices. Between 2021 and 2025 the VEU program avoided $3.8 billion in energy system costs, so even those who do not participate in the program save on bills. There is a collective benefit, when we are talking about cost-of-living pressure, which is also at the centre of any energy discussion, whichever side of the fence you sit on, and you can see there is a clear and evident benefit for Victorian consumers as a result of the program.

Another criticism that was put forward by the opposition was about the timing of this bill. I do wish to speak to that also. Many of the Victorian Energy Efficiency Target Act 2007 amendments – that is, the bill that we are on now – proposed in this bill are time critical and need to be implemented as soon as possible to ensure optimal outcomes for consumers and industry; in particular the amendment allowing interim targets to be set for 2026 and 2027 by 31 May 2025 and subsequent targets for 2028 to 2030 to be set by 31 August 2027 needs to be passed before the legislated deadline to set targets of 31 May 2025. This is so the VEU targets from 2028 onwards can consider any changes to the program as a result of the strategic review. Further, it is important for the Essential Services Commission as the regulator of the VEU program to have strengthened enforcement power as soon as practical to ensure the industry complies with regulations and improve consumers’ protection and experience in the scheme.

I do question the opposition in not wanting these elements to be implemented. Why do they not want strengthened enforcement power? Why would they not want it as soon as practical to ensure the industry complies with regulations and improve consumers’ protection and experience in the scheme? Now, you will notice I have repeated that point, but so many times they have again tried to find any reason under the sun to not pass this bill, to not pass reforms with regard to renewables and to not help Victoria move along even further in the transition yet again, yet again, yet again. Here we can see there are time-critical elements and hence a really important imperative to pass this bill before us, so I hope that has also allayed those concerns. I will give them the fact that they are creative. That is something, but when we are talking about Victorian consumers and the cost of their energy bills and the emissions that are being sent into the atmosphere, now is important. Now is the time to act, not sit on your hands hoping for a miracle or maybe just saying, ‘Look, we’ll burn those fossil fuels as long as possible and then we will just have to go nuclear.’ I think that is more where the thinking is by those opposite, and that would not seem to be a terribly prudent or proactive approach when it comes to our energy market.

The other thing, because this is an economic question, as I said earlier in my discussion, is we know that moving from expensive gas appliances to energy-efficient electric ones will save Victorian households and businesses money on their energy bills. It is why we are providing support to make this easier and cheaper to do. There is logic here. We can see that. The VEU program provides discounted energy-efficient electric appliances through the Victorian energy upgrades program. For example, swapping out a gas heater for an efficient reverse-cycle air conditioner could see you getting a discount of somewhere between $1050 and $5000. This is real money, these are real savings and we are talking about Victorian consumers. They should be prioritised in this discussion. That is exactly what we are doing in bringing forward these reforms. I will go further. On a hot-water heat pump, the discount is around $420 to $1500. When you combine this with our $1000 hot-water rebates through Solar Homes, you can install an energy-efficient – (Time expired)

John LISTER (Werribee) (15:29): I rise today in support of the Victorian Energy Efficiency Target Amendment (Energy Upgrades for the Future) Bill 2025. This is a vital piece of legislation giving real relief to families across Australia, and I thank the minister for her hard work in not only shepherding these changes through since she has been minister but also having the foresight to plan for the future. After spending a little bit of time with our young people at the YMCA event just before I know that this is a particularly important thing for young people that I represent in my electorate and that we all represent in this place. The Labor government knows that reducing emissions and cost-of-living relief go hand in hand.

I am proud to sit in a government which is working towards actual change and relief for Victorians, continuing towards meeting our world-leading climate targets and nation-leading action in the transition to renewable energy whilst delivering energy bill relief to countless Victorians.

Unlike the Liberal–National parties, who are going back to the 1950s with their expensive nuclear plans, this side knows that renewable energy is our future. This bill today is part of that support, working towards an energy grid in Victoria that is cleaner and will help lessen the effects of climate change and its resulting consequences in Victoria whilst delivering cheaper energy bills and supporting an energy-efficient transition for Victorian households and businesses.

This bill already builds on a lot of the work that we are doing around our energy efficiency targets and the original legislation which was done – it feels a bit retro –– back in 2007. It is certainly retro for me. These amendments include extending the Victorian Energy Upgrades program from where it is currently sitting, at 2030, to 2045 – and I will get to talking about that later on today; introducing new provisions to expand the Essential Services Commission and their compliance and enforcement powers – given some of the concerns that those opposite have raised, I think it is really important that we are supporting that change; clarifying the intended operation of the existing head of power for prescribing activities in relation to additionality requirements to confirm the VEU program and provide incentives for the future; specifying circumstances where an action is required under another regulation or law; and introducing things like new mandatory training requirements for scheme participants.

Given the complexity of these sorts of jobs that they are going to be working on, where we are moving to electrification, this morning I met with representatives of the Electrical Trades Union and spoke to them about the complicated systems that they are now installing into our new homes, many of which are in my electorate of Werribee, and some of the challenges that they are facing. The changes that we made back in the retro year of 2007 and the programs since are already having an effect, with the scheme preventing 4.7 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions in 2023 alone. Over 2.4 million households and 179,000 businesses have installed discounted energy-efficient products using this program. In Werribee alone over 26,000 upgrades have taken place as a result of this program. The 26,000 were not just to new homes; existing homes have been getting upgraded to make sure that they are the best they can be when it comes to energy efficiency.

This support has gone a long way in providing tangible benefits and real cost-of-living relief. We have heard the figure, and I think it is really important to reflect that $3.8 billion in energy system costs have been avoided between 2021 and 2025. This has meant almost $2 billion in annual bill savings for businesses and households across this state. I think it is important that, as recently as January, when I was out knocking on doors the main concerns that a lot of people raised with me were bill prices and the cost of living. These sorts of programs are ways that we can not only reduce our greenhouse gas emissions but also provide that support for people to go onto more efficient electrical systems which do not cost as much – as a lot of those good old gas burners – and make sure that they have that option. This bill forms part of that support.

I would like to add some figures about the uptake in Wyndham to further show how it is having support. In the Wyndham City Council local government area 99,519 households and 5099 businesses have participated in the program since it began in 2009 – retro. I was in year 11 – scary. Around 73,000 homes will have fewer cold draughts this winter due to installing weather sealing from support from the program. We spoke a little bit about renters before. This is really important because it means that a lot of those existing properties that are cold and draughty are getting that sealing done so they have less draughts and they are more energy efficient when someone is using a heater in the house. There have been 3085 upgrades in homes to energy-efficient heat pump hot-water systems. While I was out marching around Manor Lakes and Wyndham Vale and places like that knocking on doors, quite often I would come across these new heat pump systems, and I had a chance to chat to some of the people who were running them. They said that compared to gas, they are seeing savings when it comes to their bills using this heat pump water system. 45,955 homes in Wyndham have installed in-home displays to help them track and manage their energy use.

While I have not had this same kind of system set up in my own property, I have been using a monitoring app that my energy company has provided. Even just being able to see when we are using energy across the day is really important, because it means that we can make decisions around those high-energy appliances that we might be using, like a washing machine, and be able to time that and also game the system a little bit and use the energy when it is cheaper at night-time or during the day, depending on what sort of arrangements you have with your energy billing.

There have been 58 space heating and cooling upgrades in businesses and 3356 upgrades in homes across Wyndham when it comes to space heating and cooling upgrades. There have been 4910 building-based lighting upgrades and 88,526 residential lighting upgrades. In 2025 around $30 million will be saved across the Wyndham City Council LGA due to energy efficiency upgrades under the program. That is about as much as the member for Point Cook would recall is in his development contributions. That is $30 million going back into the pockets of people in our electorates across Wyndham.

A member interjected.

John LISTER: It is huge, and I think it is really important that we do not support the reasoned amendment from those opposite, because it will cause delay. I will talk a little bit about what that delay would mean specifically for Wyndham in just a moment.

In Werribee the program has delivered $34 million in discounts for households and businesses across the last five years, allowing thousands of homes to upgrade their appliances to cheaper and more energy-efficient alternatives. There are a lot of figures here about savings, but I think the most important thing to remember when we talk about these savings is that it is not just figures on a page and it is not just a program that you look up on a website, it is there and it is intangible. These are tangible differences. It means that more people in Wyndham are able to spend money on things like going out with their family or on school sport. It means that they might be able to afford some other upgrade in their house. It means more money in the pockets of business owners and residents across my electorate, and these savings are going back into other things. This is good economics.

I briefly want to talk to the reasoned amendment from those opposite. I understand the minister’s office have addressed the sequencing of the review and their concerns around it. In growing communities like mine we need certainty. Subdivision and planning for precinct structure plans are underway, and those projects will break ground around 2030 when this scheme is due to end. A lot of those people doing that planning need to know whether or not these sorts of programs are going to be around when they are going to develop these new estates. It also means certainty for the industry when it comes to some of those things that they need to import or the costs of the products that they are bringing in or manufacturing here in Victoria. We need to have that certainty by extending the program. The review can occur while the program runs. It is already happening that way. We do need to keep this going. If we do not go ahead with this, it means that we have that uncertainty for businesses, and we have that uncertainty for residents who may want to use this.

This bill and bills like it are vital for a growing city like Melbourne and for my community in Werribee, Manor Lakes, Little River, Wyndham Vale and surrounds. We have seen that countless new and existing homes are taking up the cheap rebate opportunities, and countless more will follow through to 2045 should the program be extended, and it will be. I have spoken about what the program has done. There is so much hope and opportunity for what it can do for the decades to come. In concluding, I would like to reinforce that it is really important that we support our families through programs like this, and I commend the bill to the house.

Josh BULL (Sunbury) (15:39): I am pleased on this Thursday afternoon to have the opportunity to make a contribution on the Victorian Energy Efficiency Target Amendment (Energy Upgrades for the Future) Bill 2025 and follow on from the outstanding member for Werribee as he departs the chamber.

John Lister interjected.

Josh BULL: No, he has not departed; he has just moved over to speak to some colleagues. Making some reflections, on listening to the member for Werribee’s contribution and some of the reflections that he shared about doorknocking his terrific community, and knowing just how engaged and hardworking he is in his seat and in sharing those reflections of conversations with local residents on the doors, and understanding just how important many of the programs that the member for Werribee referenced in his very crisp contribution are, I understand the importance of these programs to local residents and to local communities, not just in terms of savings but in terms of those benefits that they bring to the planet and the environment.

This government has had the opportunity to deliver over the best part of a decade a raft of reforms that go to both saving those within local communities dollars and devising initiatives, programs, rebates and loans that help people with the cost of energy but also do good things for the environment.

I only reflect on what could have been if we had have had some sort of federal leadership from Canberra from the former coalition government over the best part of a decade. Up there it really was a circus when it came to energy policy, when it came to making sure that we were transitioning like many other nations across the globe. Unfortunately we saw chaos up there, but fortunately we have moved on from that position. We have now got a team in Canberra that recognises not just the importance of transition but the importance of knowing and understanding the market, listening to those providers and rolling out a series of programs and initiatives that help people with cost and generation, and most importantly – or equally importantly, I should say – making sure that we are providing for a range of programs that incentivise the delivery of these programs.

The other reference I want to make before I go into further detail on the bill is to a visit just a couple of weeks ago the fantastic minister at the table, the Minister for Climate Action and Minister for Energy and Resources and Minister for the State Electricity Commission, had with Adam and Effie in Sunbury. It was a terrific opportunity. The minister came to my community, and we sat down with Adam and Effie. To hear of their experiences was very important. What it showed – and we go back to that word ‘incentivise’ – was the delivery of the heat pump, solar panels on the roof, a battery, battery storage technology and the take-up of their family in this space. They very kindly shared their story with both of us, and it was yet another example of just how important these programs are and just how important it is to make sure that we are working with local communities such as mine, yours, Acting Speaker, and those right across the state to ensure that we are delivering a program and a series of initiatives that enable people to transition and to make these decisions. It was terrific to see that Adam has an app on his phone which tracks usage. We shared some stories around different points throughout the day, depending on who was home and what was happening within the household, with a couple of teenagers who live there and a very affectionate cat, who joined us at the meeting as well – it took a very strong liking to the minister, I must say. It was great to listen to those experiences.

What is important about this legislation is to be able to ensure that we continue to build on and deliver the strong pathway, the strong pipeline of initiatives delivered by this government. If you compare and contrast that policy position with what we have seen for as long as I can remember, which is a divided set of – you may call them policies – sort of half-baked positions from those opposite in this space, and the difference could not be more stark. That is to say that listening to science, understanding both global research and the incredible research that is done in our country in this space, shows the importance of such transition. It shows the importance of investment in solar and wind and renewables and battery technology, and making sure that we are providing for those sets of circumstances goes to what is required.

We grow as a state by more than 100,000 people per year. We know that to meet the growing energy demands, in terms of both efficiency and production, we need to continue to invest in this space. That is why it is really pleasing to have what is an incredibly strong pipeline of investment and initiatives that have been delivered over a significant period of time. Unfortunately, the 3-odd minutes that are remaining do not possibly allow me the time to be able to list the power of work that has been done within this space, but I think for –

Paul Edbrooke interjected.

Josh BULL: I could indeed. I might never finish, member for Frankston. What is important, though, is that the investment remains strong, the science is backed and we are incentivising at a local grassroots community level, at a commercial level and also at a large-scale production level all of those programs that I mentioned earlier and making sure that the provisions that are contained within this legislation are given safe passage through the Parliament. What is needed is certainty. We know that the changing mix of energy – the change within the market – and the provisions that are put in place are of course incredibly important. That builds upon that certainty that we know consumers need and desire, and it also makes for additional advancements in technology. If we take this back 10 years, 20 years, a couple of decades, we know, just like so many other areas of technology, things have changed incredibly. To think about what it may be in 10 years or another 20 years, it can certainly be something that we know both through the targets and through many of the programs that were mentioned earlier goes to the importance of that investment but also listening to local communities.

What I often love most about this role is having those opportunities to sit down with local residents and hear their experiences of what these programs have been able to deliver and understanding that there are pressure points and challenges for families in every single community. People have different programs within their own homes; they have different challenges and different needs. It is our role to hear those and to tailor many of those messages within the energy space and of course across all portfolio areas to make sure that we are listening to residents and enacting what will be a very strong pipeline.

In the final 30 seconds, as I mentioned earlier, I will finish where I started. We remain committed to making sure that we are increasing supply, driving down cost and ensuring that we work with and listen to local communities each and every day. This builds upon many of those initiatives that have already been and will continue to be delivered. I know that the hard work of the Minister for Energy and Resources, her office and the entire government are right behind this. I commend the bill to the house.

Steve McGHIE (Melton) (15:49): It is always good to follow my good friend the member for Sunbury. He always gives a good contribution, so it is great to hear.

Cindy McLeish: Is it cheerio time?

Steve McGHIE: Well, we are getting towards the end of the sitting week and everyone is looking forward to having a bit of a break. But I rise today to contribute to the Victorian Energy Efficiency Target Amendment (Energy Upgrades for the Future) Bill 2025. I want to acknowledge and commend the Minister for Energy and Resources, who is at the table, for introducing this bill, and her team that have done a lot of work on this. It is fantastic to see; thank you.

There are over 2.5 million households and businesses that participated in the Victorian energy upgrade program since it began in 2009.

The program provides discounts for the installation of energy-efficient appliances, such as heating and cooling systems, hot-water systems, induction cooktops, clothes dryers, fridges, freezers, TVs, showerheads and lighting upgrades. These energy-efficient appliances can help Victorians save hundreds of dollars on their power bills, and we also know it reduces our CO₂ emissions and that is one of the great aims of this bill. It reduces the cost of living for some of the vulnerable Victorians and those with low incomes. What I mean by that is that it will assist them with these types of things, and it will reduce their energy bills and provide new appliances for them for greater heating, greater cooling and even better cooking, and far more energy-efficient appliances. There are benefits all round, to all families, but in particular those that are more vulnerable.

The Allan Labor government recognises just how important this program is. That is why we are amending the Victorian Energy Efficiency Target Act 2007 to strengthen the Victorian energy upgrades program and to extend that program through to 2045, in line with the government’s net zero emissions commitment. It allows further discounts to be introduced in the future and will introduce new mandatory training for service providers. These measures will strengthen consumer protections, and they will ensure that more Victorians can benefit from this excellent program.

I have seen firsthand just how important the Victorian energy upgrades program is for the constituents of my electorate in Melton. With the Minister for Climate Action and Minister for Energy and Resources I recently visited Ben and Joan Antony at their family home – what a lovely family they are. These long-term Melton residents installed a 10.32-kilowatt rooftop solar system with Solar Homes rebates, and they have made the most of the energy upgrade incentives, including draught proofing, heat pump hot-water systems, LED lights and showerhead replacements. They replaced their gas-ducted heating with reverse-cycle air conditioners.

Of course the Antonys are just one household of many in Melton who have taken great advantage of this program and these great discounts offered by the Victorian energy upgrades program. In fact almost 59,000 upgrades have been completed through this program in Melton over the last five years. I think Melton is one of the highest take-ups in regard to solar panels. Over the last five years, the 59,000 upgrades have delivered $33.6 million in discounted appliances, and that is an enormous amount for my constituents. It has reduced the bills of my constituents by $15.5 million thanks to these upgrades, and that is $15.5 million of savings that can be spent by my constituents in other ways to support their families. That is an enormous saving in regard to these upgrades.

We all know that the impacts of the cost of living – we hear it a lot – are hitting Victorians hard. I would like to mention the member for Tarneit, who mentioned yesterday the many times I have discussed my concerns in here about the obscene fuel price gouging going on in Melton. It is something that we will get to the bottom of and we will have addressed. Maybe the ACCC will get off their hands and do something about it, hopefully. We have called on them and we will see what happens there. But our government has introduced the fair fuel policy, which is fantastic and will assist my constituents in Melton. There are other bonuses that we are assisting families with with the cost of living, like the $400 school saving bonus, and we have just recently changed the public school uniform policy. This bill is about addressing cost-of-living support. I went to some of those figures and how my constituents have benefited from this over the last five years, and it will go on.

Melton is one of the fastest growing areas in the state, if not the country, and the projection on houses is that 109,000 houses will be built in Melton by 2050. That is more than doubling the house number that is there now, and I would make a fair assumption that most of those houses will be connected to solar, some of them will certainly have batteries, and a number will be instalments from this VEU program. This program supports more than 2200 jobs on an ongoing basis, and they are important jobs for people; it is important for our economy to keep people in work and for them to have the money that they need to support their families. Those opposite might not believe in the science of climate change, but their opposition to this bill shows that they do not support these workers and the 2200 jobs and workers that work in these positions to assist this program.

Cindy McLeish interjected.

Steve McGHIE: Well, yes. I mean, if you believed in climate change and that, you would believe in all of the jobs. That is what we are up for; it is not just about saving on the cost of living and energy bills, it is also about providing work for people to support their families and support their communities. Of course on our side of the chamber we care everyday about Victorians and Victorian workers. How could you be against jobs and cheaper bills for Victorians? That is exactly what we are striving to achieve here. It drives long-term investment in the energy sector and creates jobs and many types of jobs. It is not just engineers and not just business managers, it is technical workers, tradies, clerical workers and administrative and sales force staff. A whole range of jobs will be created by this program.

Meeting our renewable targets and storage targets will deliver around $9.5 billion and in the longer term around 59,000 jobs to Victoria’s economy over the period 2023 to 2035, which is not that far away. So over the next 10 years we are talking about an enormous number of jobs. I know I have only got a short period of time to go, but there are some things that I really want to go to in regard to other things that we have delivered.

I will quote just some facts and figures. Since 20 October 2024, 48 per cent of electricity in Victoria has been generated by cheap, clean renewables, and that is what supports this program. That is exactly what we are delivering. I do drive in from the western district many, many times during the course of the year, where we have got the wind turbines, the solar panels and the solar farms, and we know that the transmission wires and transmission towers are coming to transmit that energy from the Western District and the south-western district into Melbourne to be shared by all households.

The other thing is that this energy program will save, as I said, on a family’s energy bills, with households saving $150 and businesses saving $870. That is a substantial amount each year for families. We have seen on average the wholesale energy price drop by about 2.2 per cent, so there are great benefits from the introduction of this bill. It is a very important bill for our communities. I know my constituents will benefit from it. It is a great bill, and I commend the bill to the house.

Nathan LAMBERT (Preston) (15:59): I rise also in support of the Victorian Energy Efficiency Target Amendment (Energy Upgrades for the Future) Bill 2025. I did worry that I would not have the chance to get on my feet. In fact I am grateful to the member for Melton, who offered to divvy up the time if we ran short. However, as Hansard will record, the opposition have run out of puff. Thus there are only Labor speakers left and we all have plenty of time. I will note the member for Brighton did fill his full 30 minutes, mainly by repeating himself at some length, but the final opposition speaker, the member for Mildura, did touch mainly on VNI West. I appreciate the passion and the views she holds on that issue, but as the Minister for Climate Action, who was the minister at the table, pointed out, it is a matter that is entirely independent of the bill that is before us today.

The bill that is before us today concerns of course the Victorian energy upgrades program, and I am very pleased to have the opportunity to speak directly about that. It is a very important – really a venerable – program now within our energy efficiency mix. It dates back to the Bracks–Brumby government and really paved the way for Solar Homes, the federal schemes that picked up on its initiatives and the full range of offerings that we have today. I think it is important to remember that back when the Bracks–Brumby government introduced the Victorian energy efficiency target, the VEU and the Victorian renewable energy target it was against the backdrop of a very high-profile national debate about the ETS and the CPRS initiative, which was led by then Minister for Climate Change Penny Wong. People in this place may know the Melbourne writer and scholar Dr Adam Carr. Dr Adam Carr has written at particular length about that infamous December 2009 vote in which two Liberals, Sue Boyce and Judith Troeth, a senator for Victoria, bravely crossed the floor to support the CPRS. Of course it was voted down, shamefully, by the Greens, in collaboration with the remaining opposition senators and Family First. As Dr Carr wrote of that vote, it was ‘probably the single most harmful piece of short-sighted political opportunism in recent Australian history’.

The result was that Australia would wait another 20 years to get the more patchwork carbon trading scheme we have now. It is a good scheme, thanks in part to the work of Minister Bowen and his recent amendments to the safeguard mechanism, but when we look at the VEU scheme, as the minister knows, you see the hope that was in it then. I think partly they would have hoped that that scheme would segue into a more comprehensive national scheme, and because of that vote by the Greens we stand here today and it never did. But, fortunately for us, it is a huge credit to that government that they persevered despite the disaster – and I think ‘disaster’ is not too strong a word – that was unfolding federally with respect to climate change policy. What they did deliver was a VEU program that was essentially a niche carbon trading scheme for energy efficiency improvements specifically. As other speakers have touched on, the big advantage of that was not only did we get emission reductions but of course the people who participated got their energy bills reduced. I think the member for Point Cook argued very compellingly that all of us benefited from lower energy bills as a result of this program. I understand about 2½ million households and 180,000 businesses have participated. As we understand, when all those businesses participate and reduce their energy demand, all of us benefit because it means that energy that is dispatched in our national energy market is cheaper energy, and so average wholesale prices and therefore average retail prices come down. So we can see why the VEU program is such a strong policy both in theory and in practice.

It is effectively a win-win because it just deals with the tendency of most of us to be a little bit short term sometimes in our thinking. We purchased our current house a couple of years ago, and I know when I moved in I had grand plans of fixing up the garden, fixing up the bathroom and indeed implementing a number of energy efficiency measures in our home. Of course, as happens with all of us, these things that would most benefit you if you did them immediately you put off, even though in the case of energy efficiency improvements we know they would pay for themselves. But all of us can be a little bit short sighted, and the great thing about this program – the reason it is a win-win for everyone – is it just encourages all of us to get on the front foot, make these changes to the energy efficiency of our homes, drive down our own bills and in doing so benefit the broader community, who get both lower bills and lower emissions.

I think we should take great pride that the VEU program, which has been so good at that, survived what was a tumultuous period for climate change policy back in the late 2000s. We heard the member for Werribee talking about the fact that he was in high school at the time. I was a bit older, but those of us who do remember it well know that there was a great deal of pressure on this program. Part of that of course originated from the quite tragic circumstances around the home insulation program rolled out by the federal government, which was the subject of a subsequent royal commission. But there was a lot of pressure, and I think it is a huge credit to those involved that the program is still here today. It has been reformed several times and it is now a very strong part of our overall energy efficiency program, and it has, most importantly, reduced carbon emissions significantly. I believe when the program was first introduced, and in the early period of the coalition – I should say the Liberal–National – government we were producing about 135 megatons of carbon dioxide or equivalent thereof. We are now producing I think just over 80 megatons or thereabouts – a very significant reduction, down by 50 megatons or by 40 per cent or so – and this program, as I understand it, has been a significant contributor to that reduction. It is certainly a double-digit, possibly a 20 per cent, contributor to that very significant reduction.

We did hear a very strange conspiracy theory from the member for Brighton, who stood up here and claimed that emissions are up. I mean, they are not. They are down in the long term in the very significant way that I have set up. But he stood up and said they are up because of a minor fluctuation of a few megatons or so that has gone back up –

Cindy McLeish interjected.

Nathan LAMBERT: I can see the member for Eildon interjecting, but the overall trend is strongly down. As the minister herself had the opportunity to point out in question time, there are fluctuations related to land use and fires and floods and those kinds of things. Overall the trend is down, and the member for Brighton tried to claim that it is up and then tried to claim that this bill was a conspiracy to adjust our climate targets. Frankly, that was incoherent and wrong. I am not sure if the member had read the bill. There is nothing about our climate targets. Our government’s climate target of net zero by 2045 and the interim targets there remain exactly as they have always been. The targets in this bill, had the member read it a little bit more closely, are the Victorian energy efficiency targets; they are separate. They are a subset, if you like, of our overall carbon target. And of course, as with all of the subsidiary targets, we will adjust the VEET to the degree that is effective in helping us reach our main target. So the idea that any adjustment to it is an abandonment of our main target is completely wrong.

The VEET supports the work that we will do to get to net zero by 2045, and it has done that very practically, as we know, by upgrades to lighting, and does so now in its new form. I think this particular bill is a good bill because it supports what we are seeing these days from the VEU, which is particularly supporting the installation of more efficient heating, cooling and hot-water systems. We know that involves more complex projects, and the reforms that we see here today support those changes.

I do want to give a shout-out to some of our local constituents who are very passionate about this area. The minister and I had the opportunity to talk to Tom and Lisa up in Reservoir East a couple of years ago now, who had removed their gas heating, their hot-water system and their stove with the support of this government. More recently the Parliamentary Secretary for Climate Action, Sheena Watt, joined us and we chatted to Debbie, who is up on Tyler Street. She had upgraded her solar panels with the support of this government, and she also had a great new heat pump made by Earthworker Energy Manufacturing Cooperative down in Morwell, who I do not know well but sound like a fantastic outfit for anyone who is shopping for a heat pump at the moment. And a shout-out, on that note, to Shane Clayton from the Electrical Trades Union, who I had the opportunity to chat to this morning, who is involved directly in the installation of these more complex pieces of energy efficiency equipment. He was very supportive of the policy that we have here in front of us.

Finally, Frida and Jack in West Preston I had the opportunity to talk to the other day. They have done a fantastic job. I think they have a new iStore 270 heat pumps. They have the full kit and caboodle. I think they have racked up over $10,000 in rebates thanks to our Solar Homes program, the VEU program and the federal government schemes that are also available. I should say in completeness for Frida and Jack that they also raised the issue of the killing, as we know, of over 15,000 children and many other innocent civilians in Gaza as something they felt passionately about, but I think we were grateful for their hospitality and certainly grateful for their sharing their views on this matter as well. Were they here today, I think they would very strongly support what is being undertaken with this bill and would be opposed to the position of the opposition.

I have dealt with the conspiracy theory put forward by the member for Brighton, so I will not touch on that further except to note the opposition did try to abolish the VEU back in 2014, and it is good for all of us that they failed to do so. I commend the ongoing VEU program, and this bill specifically, to the house.

Dylan WIGHT (Tarneit) (16:09): It gives me great pleasure to rise this afternoon to make a contribution in support of the Victorian Energy Efficiency Target Amendment (Energy Upgrades for the Future) Bill 2025. This bill is all about extending the Victorian energy upgrades program to be able to continue supporting Victorian families and businesses to switch to electric products. Since the program commenced in 2009, over 2.4 million households and 179,000 businesses have been able to take advantage of being able to install discounted energy-efficient products. The outcome of this program since 2009 is that everybody that has taken advantage of it, whether that be in a business or in a home, has benefited from cheaper power bills.

That has been the benefit of this program, and it has been a significant benefit. Uptake of the VEU, the Victorian energy upgrades, is particularly high in my community of Tarneit. I have spoken to constituents that have been able to take advantage of this program. What we know, and it is not deniable, is that electricity is far cheaper than gas at the moment. That is just a fact. When your gas appliance comes to its end of life – it might be a hot-water service or a heater – you are, through incredibly generous incentives, able to install an electric appliance. That may be a heat pump for your hot-water service, and it drives those bills down. I recently myself changed from a gas hot-water service to an electric heat pump, and the reduction in your energy costs is significant. That is incredibly important in the time that we are in right now. We understand there are cost-of-living pressures that Victorian families are feeling, and to be able to cover a significant amount of the cost of changing that appliance but also the added benefit that you get from that reduction in power prices is significant for Victorian families.

I think you said it yourself just then, Acting Speaker Lambert: these appliances, through the Victorian energy upgrades program, pay for themselves and drive down your electricity costs. I have listened to some of the contributions throughout the afternoon, some from our side – including your own, Acting Speaker, which was incredibly informative – and some from those opposite as well, and it has become patently clear that either those opposite do not understand the VEU program or, frankly, they are just being disingenuous, as they typically are. The member for Brighton was in here earlier trying to claim that emissions have gone up under this government, which is just absolute nonsense. It is just disingenuous for a little grab on his Instagram or his Twitter or whatever he rolls with. It is frankly embarrassing.

This state, under this government, under this energy minister, has the most ambitious renewable energy targets anywhere in the country and some of the most ambitious anywhere in the world. The notion that emissions have gone up – since 2005 our emissions have dropped faster than any other jurisdiction in the country. We are leading the nation on this. Part of the reason that we are leading the nation on this is programs like the VEU. As I said, this is a great policy to support Victorian families with those cost-of-living pressures, but obviously it is also great for the environment. As our renewable energy production continues to ramp up, the use of these electrical appliances rather than gas appliances is going to be absolutely amazing for the environment as well.

To go to some of the numbers on this, swapping out a gas heater for an efficient reverse-cycle air conditioner could see you get a discount of between $500 and $1050. On a hot-water heat pump the discount is between $420 and $1500. That is a significant amount of money that can stay in the pockets of Victorian families to make sure that they can put food on the table, to make sure they can pay their mortgage or rent and indeed to make sure that they can pay their energy bills. It is a bit self-fulfilling.

When you when you combine this with $1000 hot-water rebates through Solar Homes, you can install an energy-efficient heat pump for the exact same price as it would cost you to just change over your gas appliance. Like I said, I have got some experience with that myself, but people in my community of Tarneit that come and speak to me and that have taken advantage of this program are absolutely delighted with the outcome. They drive their power bills down and they get to keep between $500 and $1500 in their pocket to spend on themselves and their family.

What we do know is that the last time that the coalition were in government here in Victoria they tried to scrap the VEU. They tried to scrap the VEU in 2014, unsuccessfully, thank God. Imagine Victorian families not having the capacity to get the assistance they need to change over their gas appliances. We know that they tried to scrap it, and we know without a shadow of a doubt that that is what they will do again. We have heard them all afternoon, time after time, trash the VEU and heard them be, frankly, pretty disingenuous around some environmental facts. We know if they are elected in 2026, this program will be gone. Victorians that need that support with cost-of-living pressures when their appliances come to end of life will not be able to access these incredibly generous incentives. It is bad for Victorians, it is bad for working families, it is bad for your hip pocket, but it is absolutely disastrous for the environment.

We would have a situation where we had no VEU and you could not access those incentives. But we would also have a situation where the choice to move from gas appliances to electric appliances would no longer be incentivised, so people would not make the choice. People will not be able to afford to make that choice. They may be incredibly environmentally conscious, but they just will not have the money in the bank to be able to do it. Then we will see a bit of a halt in the reduction of emissions. We will see emissions higher for longer. And then what we will see is that we will need significantly more gas exploration. Depending on who you speak to and what experts you listen to, we are running out of gas in Victoria in both the Otway Basin and the Gippsland Basin. I have said it in this place before, that is all the incredibly gas-happy mob over there talk about when we talk about energy. If you cannot get any more gas offshore, then where do you have to get it from? You have got to frack it, don’t you? If you want to have a local gas industry, because you want every appliance in Victoria to be gas –

Cindy McLeish interjected.

Dylan WIGHT: and you run out of it offshore, member for Eildon, there is only one other place to get it, and that is onshore and that is through fracking. We banned fracking years and years ago because it destroys our local environment; it destroys agricultural land. What we know is that if this mob get elected in 2026, they will hurt Victorians –

Cindy McLeish: On a point of order, Acting Speaker, without using the word that is not allowed to be used because it is unparliamentary, beginning with ‘l’ and ending in ‘s’, I caution you with the facts that this member is coming out with – it is absolute garbage.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Iwan Walters): That is not a point of order, member for Eildon. The member has completed his contribution.

Bronwyn HALFPENNY (Thomastown) (16:19): I rise, after that great contribution, that very factual contribution of the member for Tarneit, to speak in support of the Victorian Energy Efficiency Target Amendment (Energy Upgrades for the Future) Bill 2025. The Victorian Labor government has done so much to assist in the transition to renewable energy. This legislation and the amendments it makes continue that progress.

Just going through what the original bill itself is all about, it is trying to take measures to incentivise the reduction of any energy consumption in the first place and also to reduce fossil fuel generated energy – gas and electricity – by incentivising households and businesses to switch to renewable sources. In most cases that is solar. This is all about helping us to meet our climate change targets, but it is also about reducing the cost of energy to households.

I talk to residents in the Thomastown electorate about some of the up-front costs. For example, solar panel installation on your roof or even heat pump hot-water services do have some expense up-front, and often people just cannot afford to outlay that money in order to then, over the years to come, reduce their energy bills. These sorts of programs are all about making the switch much more affordable so that all families and households are able to take advantage of the cheaper renewable energy. I know, for example, my mother is a very good case. She has a unit in the City of Darebin, actually, and while she was not entitled to any of these rebates at the time, she just replaced an old gas ducted heating system with electric. Honestly, hundreds of dollars have come off her bills. I think her gas bill now with just hot water is $80, but the electricity with her solar panels as well means she is paying very, very little in energy bills. Being on a pension as a retired member of our society, of course any savings that she can make in any area really do help her in ensuring that she can still enjoy a good quality of life and have enough to be able to do all the things that she would like to do.

This is an amendment, and basically it is to ensure the program is extended. While a review is being undertaken into the scheme to ensure that it is being used in the best way possible, there is a shorter period provided, two years rather than five years, to make sure that there is certainty for all those involved in and affected by these schemes going into the future.

I would like to give a few examples of what has happened under the program so far. Something like 179,000 businesses have installed discounted energy-efficient products using the program, and that has been done to over 2.4 million households. Since the program went all electric in 2023 it has delivered rebates of 19,000 reverse-cycle air conditioners and 39,000 hot-water systems, which it has been calculated has saved 28 million tonnes of emissions. So this program really is very successful in reducing emissions as well as making it cheaper for households to make sure that they can still keep their heaters going and have their hot water and not get to a point where they cannot afford it anymore.

In the past I know Liberal–National Party governments have done nothing in order to either reduce energy bills for households or address one of the biggest threats in our time, which is climate change. We know that this takes all sorts of manifestations, whether it is extreme weather events, flooding or bushfires. All of these things of course then cost a lot of money. Not only does it completely disrupt and devastate people’s lives, but it is also a huge cost to clean up. So we really do need to make sure that we are doing all we can as a society in Victoria and across Australia to reduce emissions and therefore do not continue the spiral downward in terms of the threat of climate change.

As I said, the Liberal opposition has never, ever taken any action on this. I know, for example, when they were elected in Victoria in 2010 they pretty well banned wind turbines, without any other incentives or supports for any other programs. This, at the time, devastated the fledgling industry. We have probably lost a lot of opportunities in industry development because of what the Liberal–National opposition did or did not do – their inaction – during that time in government. It is very similar federally, so thank goodness there is an Albanese Labor government. I think we can all feel much more confident in the future when it comes to addressing climate change and in trying to make sure that future generations in our country and across the world are looked after in terms of us taking action on climate change. This is going to happen, and I would absolutely be frightened of a Dutton-led government if we have to look at addressing climate change, because it just will not happen. There are these ridiculous ideas about nuclear – ‘How far away will it be? How much will it cost?’ – when of course we have got such cheap options now when you look at solar and also wind-generated electricity.

This legislation is extremely important. As we know, as time goes by legislation should be in a sense a living thing that has to move and change and evolve in order to address whatever we are facing at the time. Now the big steps are towards electrification in all manner of things because gas as a fossil fuel is both finite but also becoming more and more expensive. While I know the member for Tarneit was talking about where the opposition would go in terms of saying that gas is the answer, not only is there then the threat of fracking and, as he explained, the dangers to farmland and everything else, but it is also the problem that if it is not being fracked, it would have to be, what, imported? The infrastructure and the cost of importing gas would mean that, again, Victorians are destined for huge prices, huge costs, in order to secure the gas that they need to run their heating and essentials of life.

The much better alternative is to incentivise people making that switch so that in some ways they have control over their own destiny. We can actually generate the energy from our solar panels on our own roofs, and hopefully we can also install batteries as the prices of those come down and they get better and better into the future. We always need programs to also give that certainty to industry so they will actually start investing in innovative programs and products that will address or reduce the cost of renewable energy. We also hope to develop good, strong industries here in Victoria. That also needs that certainty that there will be demand for it, and we can do that as a government by continuing to incentivise and encourage residents to move to renewable energy.

This is such an important piece of legislation. It is about making sure that we continue to do the work and build on the work that has been done. Since the state Labor government was elected in 2014 there have been so many different programs, so many different actions taken, to ensure that we do have a better world for those coming after us and to ensure that we have a good, strong and secure energy supply. That is all based on renewable energy that is also clean energy.

Ella GEORGE (Lara) (16:29): I am very pleased to rise today to speak on the Victorian Energy Efficiency Target Amendment (Energy Upgrades for the Future) Bill 2025. From the outset I would like to acknowledge the very hardworking Minister for Energy and Resources and her incredible team for the work that they have done with this bill. I do not think the minister for energy stops. The amount of legislation that we have seen come to this Parliament in the energy space looking at Victoria’s energy future, building the frameworks and infrastructure and support that will help us with the transition to renewable energy, has been phenomenal. As I say, I do not think the minister for energy ever, ever stops. Her contribution to this Parliament and to Victoria’s energy future is immense.

This is an incredibly important bill that supports Victoria’s energy future and our transition away from fossil fuels like coal and gas to clean green renewable energy. This bill will amend the Victorian Energy Efficiency Target Act 2007 so that the Victorian energy efficiency target scheme, which is known as the Victorian energy upgrades program, can continue to support energy efficiency in Victorian households and businesses alike. The bill does this by extending the operation of the VEET scheme to the end of 2045, allowing the Victorian energy upgrades program to deliver incentives for mandated upgrades, increasing the flexibility of Victorian energy efficiency certificate surrender deadlines and providing the regulator, the Essential Services Commission, with a range of new and expanded enforcement tools to encourage and enforce compliance with the act and regulations made under the act.

On this side of the house we are so proud of our government’s nation-leading agenda when it comes to transitioning our energy grid to a more renewable, more sustainable and cheaper network for businesses, households and communities. On this side of the house we have a plan. We have a plan for renewable energy, and communities are embracing it. They are embracing it because it is supporting households with the cost of living by driving electricity costs down. They support it because it supports our environment by reducing emissions, and these are things that Victorians care deeply about. In contrast to that, those opposite have no plan when it comes to renewable energy or how to drive down electricity costs. Instead all they are thinking about is nuclear, and nuclear power is something that my community absolutely says no to. We do not want it in the Lara electorate. In fact we do not want it anywhere in Victoria. We have heard some really disturbing plans for a proposed nuclear power site down at Anglesea, which is very close to us in the Geelong region, and that is something that residents in my electorate of Lara just do not want to see.

Last year the government kicked off a review of the VEU program, which was aimed at better supporting Victorians in cutting their energy bills by transitioning to electric solutions, and what this bill today will do is provide clarity for households and the industry while that review is in progress. The reforms will enhance and extend the program to ensure it effectively assists even more Victorian homes and businesses in electrifying and boosting their energy efficiency. The VEU is evolving to remain a key component of our climate and energy strategy, and today’s bill is an important piece as we work to strengthen the scheme to tackle the current challenges facing households and businesses.

The Lara community recognises the savings that can come from moving away from expensive gas appliances to energy-efficient electric ones, and community members are so grateful that this Labor government is supporting programs that support this transition and make it easier and cheaper to do this. Thanks to the VEU program, for households that are needing to upgrade a hot-water heat pump there is a discount of around $420 to $1500. When you combine this with $1000 hot-water rebates through the Solar Homes program, you can install an energy-efficient heat pump for no more than what it would cost to install a gas one and you can be saving money on your bills from day one. This is an incredibly important program for electrification across the Geelong community. Having spoken with my colleagues the member for Geelong and the member for Bellarine, we know that communities right across the Geelong region are really embracing this. They are embracing the ability to install a more efficient hot-water system at home. They are embracing the ability to install solar panels on their roofs, which we know helps drive down those electricity costs. Our role as a Labor government is to do everything that we can to support residents to ensure that they can do this, to ensure that it is affordable, and that is exactly what the VEU program is delivering.

Everyone in this chamber will know that this government has the most ambitious goals in Australia when it comes to renewable energy, and this bill will go to supporting those goals. The state Labor government has set ambitious renewable energy targets. We are aiming for 65 per cent renewable energy generation by 2030 and 95 per cent by 2035. Additionally, we have established storage targets of at least 2.6 gigawatts by 2030 and 6.3 gigawatts by 2035 alongside offshore wind energy goals of 2 gigawatts by 2032, 4 gigawatts by 2035 and 9 gigawatts by 2040.

These initiatives are vital for reaching our climate goals, which include reducing emissions by 45 to 50 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030, 75 to 80 per cent by 2035, and achieving net zero emissions by 2045. When I speak to people in the community about this they are just as excited as all of us are on this side of the house about those emissions reduction goals, and they understand the value of reducing emissions and what it means for people’s health and wellbeing and the health and wellbeing of our environment. I am proud to say that we are making significant strides towards these targets, having more than tripled the share of renewable energy since 2014, with our current energy generation in Victoria standing at 39 per cent from renewables – 39 per cent. That is massive. That is something that Labor governments would deliver and something that those opposite would never even consider.

Our government’s offshore wind targets are also leading the nation, and our government’s plan to bring back government ownership of energy generation by bringing back the SEC, which those opposite cut, will create thousands of jobs building new renewables like wind, solar and batteries. Importantly, any profits from the SEC will go straight back into keeping bills down for Victorians. I think it is safe to say that Victoria is at the forefront of a significant energy transition. In fact retail power prices in Victoria are at the lowest in the country and are projected to keep falling into the future. That is because of this Labor government’s robust investment in renewable energy, which is driving down wholesale power prices in Victoria, making them consistently lower than those in other states.

In the electorate of Lara and in the wider Geelong community we are seeing some really exciting projects taking shape. For instance, the 300-megawatt Victorian Big Battery is providing essential energy to the community during peak times. Pavilion Farms in Anakie are also making strides with their biogas project, aiming to turn 30,000 tonnes of chicken litter and organic waste into renewable energy and eco-friendly fertiliser. Just last week we saw a new approval on the Barwon solar farm, which will deliver solar panel energy to Victorian homes. In Geelong we have the Geelong Tech School, funded by a Labor government, which serves as a hub for STEM education essential for fostering a circular economy and educating students about the jobs of the future in renewable energy. Our government has implemented these various programs to help residents transition to more sustainable homes, and many locals have shared with me their positive experiences with solar rebates, hot-water rebates and solar battery loans. Over the past eight years we have more than tripled the share of renewable energy in power generation and provided over 300,000 rebates through our Solar Homes program.

In Geelong we are also supporting Geelong Sustainability, a remarkable organisation who are running impactful community initiatives like their climate safe rooms and electric homes program, and I really do want to thank Geelong Sustainability for the leadership they are taking in this space and for their focus on supporting households who might not have otherwise been able to afford these important energy upgrades. At Cloverdale Community Centre we have invested in solar panels on their roofs to help them keep their bills down, and we have invested in electric car charging stations to support the City of Greater Geelong as they transition to an all-electric fleet.

When you look at all of this investment and the VEU program, it is not hard to see why the community is grateful for our government’s investment into these areas. When I am speaking to the community in Lara I hear how these programs are making a real difference to them and making a real difference to their energy bills. Our government is dedicated to helping Victorian families and businesses cut down their energy costs, and the VEU program is a big part of making that happen. Since it started in 2009 we have seen 2.4 million households benefit and 179,000 businesses, and I am so pleased that we are introducing legislation today to support the VEU program into the future.

Matt FREGON (Ashwood) (16:39): I am very happy to rise on the Victorian Energy Efficiency Target Amendment (Energy Upgrades for the Future) Bill 2025. I would say as a note for the most part today we have all stayed pretty much on the bill, which has been a good job for us. I will endeavour to do the same, as no doubt you would want me to. I think there were some contributions from the other side that took some statistics from a certain point of view. I have no ability to say that some of the things they were saying were absolutely wrong, but I do think they started timing some of their numbers from, ‘Oh, we’ll just go to there because that’s convenient. We won’t go before that.’ I do think there were some little games with numbers at play at times. Well, we are all in here to debate, so all is fair in love and war.

I think as a general standard it is fair to say that over the 11 years of the government, the Andrews–Allan government, our minister has worked tirelessly and very effectively to not only lower our carbon footprint, lower our emissions as a state and encourage the electrification of our state but encourage the sustainability of our state. All of these things are entwined, and the VEU program that we are discussing today is a major part of that. I would argue that Victoria, with a mix of the VEU, the default offer, and our investments into solar, into big batteries and into our sustainability mechanisms is years ahead of the other states. Our energy prices are lower than the other states, and yes, prices do go up across the board – in a cost-of-living crisis we are going to see prices go up.

I noticed an article in the Age recently, I think it was a couple of weeks ago, and I do not remember the exact words – allow me to paraphrase – but the headline was something like ‘Power prices going up: very, very bad.’ When you actually read the article, when you got into the weeds of the article and got past the headline, it was, ‘Oh yes, Queensland’s prices are going up by a significant percentage, New South Wales’s are going up by a significant percentage.’ I think Tassie’s were going up by quite a lot too, but Victoria’s were only going up just by a little bit. Hang on a second, they missed that in the headline. The default offer is part of the reason that our prices are lower, and the VEU program incentivising people to electrify their homes and put solar on their roof with a Solar Homes package is part of the reason that our prices are lower than other states. It is very hard to argue against that. I mean, I am not saying it cannot be done, but I do not think it is right.

In my patch there is a wonderful mob – and I know the member for Kew is at the table and I think the member for Kew has been involved with them at some level – a community-led organisation called Electrify Boroondara, which is a fantastic organisation. Yes, she is nodding; we are all on the same page on this – I love a bit of bipartisanship, it is very handy. This is a grassroots, community-led organisation with one purpose, and that is to spread knowledge of the effectiveness of the electrification of people’s homes – to effectively get people off gas usage and off fossil fuel usage as much as possible and into electrified homes. They have had a couple of years where they have their big expo, I think later in the year, and I am sure I will be there with bells on and I reckon the member for Kew will be there as well. I do not want to put words in your mouth, member for Kew, but let us all stick together on this one. The minister was there last year with Saul Griffith, and we were all talking about the same thing. The VEU program is an incentive for people to not only get the benefit of electrification, so we do not need to use fossil fuels as much overall and we have more solar panels on roofs, we have more heat pumps, we have more induction stoves for those who want them – yes, nobody is taking your gas cooker away, that is a bit of fear mongering there from Herald Sun; thank you, media. The VEU program enables people who may not have the financial independence to do it themselves to get assistance from the government, because we all benefit.

Just last week the Minister for Climate Action and Minister for Energy and Resources joined me in my area and we visited two people who were along that journey. Russell showed us his electrification journey. He is quite a long way through. He was an early adopter of solar when people were getting very high tariffs – I think it was 60 cents, and that was awesome because they were making money. Obviously the feed-in tariffs have gone down because there is so much more energy coming to the grid; that is the way of supply and demand. Recently, as those contracts were coming up, he put more solar on his roof, he changed his hot-water system to a heat pump system and he recently installed a battery. He has still got to do his space heating, which is the next thing on his list, but his energy prices are much cheaper. His carbon footprint as a household is much lower.

For those that can afford to do that, you are going to save money. I know from my own experience in our house – and I have spoken about this before – we had a gas-ducted system in probably the 1970s or 1980s, whenever it was originally installed. It had been on the blink and it was costing us money every year to keep it rolling along. We said, ‘That’s it, we’ve got to replace it,’ and we did the numbers on replacing like for like or going to a heat pump system under the floor. It was expensive, but when we did the numbers, it paid itself off after about a six- to eight-year period. That is not going to work for everyone, I understand that, but for us it works because we are not planning to go anywhere – they can take me out in a box. Over that eight-year period it will pay for itself. Then after that, it is power for nothing, essentially. If I had not changed, I would have been paying more and more and more and more. We also met Jenny last week in my patch. She had out all her bills as she has gone along that electrification journey, showing how much money she has saved.

Without the VEU program what would essentially happen is those people who could afford to spend bigger money in their households would save more money, and those who were not as affluent would not be able to do the upgrade. The incentive is not only good for the household but also for all of us. Even just moving your halogen lights over to LED lights, when we did that a number of years ago I think we saved about a thousand bucks a year just from that. All those little things add up and decrease our electricity usage and decrease our gas usage.

I am running out of time, but I will just quickly respond to something the member for Hawthorn said. I do not want to verbal him, but if I have got it right, he was talking about that the government has a plan to transition away from gas but the government still needs gas and this is somehow conflicting. If he was posing a question in that, I think the answer is that the state will need gas for a long time. Bass Strait is not producing and is unlikely to produce as much as it has. Getting gas from Queensland is not easy. We are talking about import terminals. We will need gas for industry, we will need gas for power, but we do not need to use the gas we have to heat the space in our rooms. It is cheaper to use electricity to do that, and the VEU program not only helps households get to that point but it helps our whole state have a better use of our energy in general, including of gas. This is a good bill and this is a great program. I commend the bill to the house.

John MULLAHY (Glen Waverley) (16:49): It is a pleasure to rise in favour of the Victorian Energy Efficiency Target Amendment (Energy Upgrades for the Future) Bill 2025, and from the outset I would like to thank the Minister for Energy and Resources and Minister for Climate Action and her team for their efforts in bringing this important legislation to the house.

I am particularly pleased to speak on this legislation to highlight the incredible work the Allan Labor government has been doing to secure a sustainable and energy-efficient future for Victoria. We understand that we must secure a just and viable transition away from fossil fuels such that we are reliably powered by clean forms of energy. Boldly legislated renewable energy targets of 25 per cent by 2020, 40 per cent by 2025, 65 per cent by 2030 and 95 per cent by 2035 in conjunction with offshore wind generation targets of 2 gigawatts by 2032, 4 gigawatts by 2035 and 9 gigawatts by 2040 have established an ambitious framework for the government to work towards. Alongside our energy generation targets stand our energy storage targets of 2.6 gigawatts by 2030 and 6.3 gigawatts by 2035. The cumulative capacity delivered by these targets will provide affordable and clean energy while also delivering some $9.5 billion and around 59,000 new jobs within a 12-year period.

These aims are directly related to the substance of this bill, which seeks to modernise Victoria’s energy legislative framework. A transition of this scale means there will be new and different challenges that must be faced; therefore, to ensure we effectively address contemporary issues surrounding safety, efficiency and the protection of people and the environment, these reforms are necessary. As we all experience the cost-of-living pressures and the energy bills which contribute to that stress, it is important that we take measures to save energy and costs. It is recommended that lights and electrical appliances are switched off when not in use, globes are switched to LEDs, doors and curtains and closed and roofs are insulated. Transitioning from outdated gas heating and cooling systems to an upgraded and modernised electric system also saves money.

The Victorian government is also aiding in this process through the Victorian energy upgrades (VEU) program, an initiative which between 2022 and 2025 will save some 28 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions. By moving to efficient reverse-cycle air conditioners households can save up to $2940. Those transitioning to an efficient ducted reverse-cycle air conditioner can save up to $5460. The discounts are applied with the VEU-approved product is installed through an accredited supplier, ensuring quality and safety.

Additionally, to get the best deal on their bills, Victorians can access the Victorian Energy Compare website, a free and independent energy price comparison tool. Over the years, I have been able to do many a cost comparison for my constituents during the period of the $250 power saving bonus. The issue is that many people do not realise this tool is there to provide a good comparison. Often they will find that a better deal is available to them, but then they have got the issue of having to contact their provider and spend too much time on the phone. One lady who had some hearing difficulty and could not actually use a phone came into my office. I spent 3 hours and 30 minutes trying to get that constituent a better deal from her energy provider and also manage some other matters around credits that were on her account and things like that. But this tool is there for Victorians to ensure that they are getting the best deal they can from their retailer. Offering comparisons of more than 20 retailers, it helps people find the best and most appropriate deal for them. It is calculated that users can save some $330 a year on energy costs through this website.

Whether it be in investment in wind, hydrogen or solar, the decisions we make as a government also have sizeable implications for the energy prices that Victorians pay. This January the Australian Energy Market Operator released a report confirming that Victoria continues to have the lowest wholesale electricity prices across Australia. With a national average of $88 per megawatt hour across Australia, Victoria’s minimal $45 per megawatt hour is an outstanding result for our state. It serves as a clear indication that the record growth in renewable energy generation and storage in Victoria is meeting demand and therefore lowering prices.

I was delighted to join the minister at Wilson Transformer in Glen Waverley last month to tour their facilities. It is a wonderful local manufacturing business in the heart of Glen Waverley; I do not have much manufacturing in Glen Waverley. Wilson Transformer is an excellent company, one that is acting on climate change by delivering super batteries across the state which connect up our wind farms and our solar farms. They are also creating smaller batteries these days. They have plenty of jobs in Glen Waverley and also at their other site on the border, in Albury.

At a time when internationally there are rising costs of living this bill is important for families and businesses alike, as it builds on the success of the Victorian energy upgrades program. To align with our ambitious net zero emissions target, we are extending the VEU’s legislated end date by another 15 years, to 2045. We, however, understand that there is an alternative approach. There are some who revel in fantasies, pontificating on delusions of an alternate reality and seeking to distract, disturb and bring us back literally to the dark ages. The CSIRO has confirmed that the Liberal policy of nuclear would cost at least twice as much as renewables. Compared to the cost of $22 to $53 per megawatt hour for solar, nuclear would cost somewhere between $148 and $238 per megawatt hour. This ridiculous jump in price is not even including the financial burden of building a nuclear plant, which is estimated to cost at least $8.5 billion. The Climate Council’s research states that on average renewables would make up 99 per cent of electricity share by 2050 compared to 15 per cent if six new nuclear reactors were to be built by 2050. It will take us 10 years to get to 96 per cent renewables, whilst it will take 20 years to build one nuclear plant. Renewables already make up 39 per cent of energy generation here in Victoria, whereas nuclear makes up zero per cent. On any environmental, financial, practical or logical measure it is clear that the coalition’s nuclear fantasy is unachievable and nonsensical.

Instead of that we will support households and small businesses with sensible and targeted energy bill relief. In partnership with the federal government the state government is providing direct assistance to Victorians. Households will receive quarterly rebates of $75, amounting to $300 cumulatively, with the next instalment to be received automatically on 1 April, and I know this will make a material difference. Furthermore, as a former small business owner, I understand how important it is that we support small businesses in this state. That is why as part of the Energy Bill Relief Fund eligible small business will receive a one-off rebate of $325 on their electricity bill.

We are also supporting Victorians through the revival of the SEC, a government-owned renewable energy company. This will be owned by the people, operating for the public interest. As forementioned, by 2035 Victoria will need 25 gigawatts of new renewable energy in storage capacity to meet its targets. The SEC will contribute 4.5 gigawatts through its first two projects, at the Melbourne renewable energy hub and the SEC renewable energy park, powering more than a quarter of a million homes. This project alone will create hundreds of jobs, as we know that it will facilitate a viable transition. We need to build a renewable energy workforce.

It was wonderful earlier today to have Trades Hall organise an electrification briefing here at Parliament in conjunction with Environment Victoria and the Victorian Council of Social Service. We also had people from the Electrical Trades Union and representatives of the ASU as well to continue that conversation on ensuring that we transition to renewable energy at a quicker pace. We heard some stories with regard to people that are struggling to pay their bills at this time and that there are financial counsellors helping them. It was wonderful to have them here at Parliament. I commend this bill to the house.

Pauline RICHARDS (Cranbourne) (16:59): I am so pleased to have the opportunity to speak on the Victorian Energy Efficiency Target Amendment (Energy Upgrades for the Future) Bill 2025. As the member for Glen Waverley did, I also thank the Electrical Trades Union for taking us all on a journey. Our very hardworking electricians make sure that we have what we need to stay safe. We do have a couple of sparkies here: we have got the President, and we have got the Minister for Creative Industries as well.

The SPEAKER: The time set down for me to interrupt the house under sessional orders has now arrived. The house is considering the Victorian Energy Efficiency Target Amendment (Energy Upgrades for the Future) Bill 2025. The minister has moved that the bill be now read a second time. The member for Brighton has moved a reasoned amendment to the motion. He has proposed to omit all of the words after ‘That’ and replace them with the words which have been circulated. The question is:

That the words proposed to be omitted stand part of the question.

Those supporting the reasoned amendment by the member for Brighton should vote no.

Assembly divided on question:

Ayes (51): Juliana Addison, Jacinta Allan, Colin Brooks, Josh Bull, Anthony Carbines, Ben Carroll, Anthony Cianflone, Sarah Connolly, Chris Couzens, Jordan Crugnale, Lily D’Ambrosio, Gabrielle de Vietri, Steve Dimopoulos, Paul Edbrooke, Eden Foster, Will Fowles, Matt Fregon, Ella George, Luba Grigorovitch, Bronwyn Halfpenny, Katie Hall, Paul Hamer, Martha Haylett, Mathew Hilakari, Sonya Kilkenny, Nathan Lambert, John Lister, Gary Maas, Alison Marchant, Kathleen Matthews-Ward, Steve McGhie, John Mullahy, Danny Pearson, Tim Read, Pauline Richards, Tim Richardson, Michaela Settle, Ros Spence, Nick Staikos, Natalie Suleyman, Meng Heang Tak, Jackson Taylor, Nina Taylor, Kat Theophanous, Mary-Anne Thomas, Emma Vulin, Iwan Walters, Vicki Ward, Dylan Wight, Gabrielle Williams, Belinda Wilson

Noes (24): Brad Battin, Jade Benham, Tim Bull, Martin Cameron, Chris Crewther, Wayne Farnham, Sam Groth, Matthew Guy, David Hodgett, Emma Kealy, Tim McCurdy, Cindy McLeish, James Newbury, Danny O’Brien, Michael O’Brien, Kim O’Keeffe, John Pesutto, Richard Riordan, Brad Rowswell, David Southwick, Bridget Vallence, Peter Walsh, Rachel Westaway, Jess Wilson

Question agreed to.

The SPEAKER: The question is:

That this bill be now read a second time and a third time.

Assembly divided on question:

Ayes (51): Juliana Addison, Jacinta Allan, Colin Brooks, Josh Bull, Anthony Carbines, Ben Carroll, Anthony Cianflone, Sarah Connolly, Chris Couzens, Jordan Crugnale, Lily D’Ambrosio, Gabrielle de Vietri, Steve Dimopoulos, Paul Edbrooke, Eden Foster, Will Fowles, Matt Fregon, Ella George, Luba Grigorovitch, Bronwyn Halfpenny, Katie Hall, Paul Hamer, Martha Haylett, Mathew Hilakari, Sonya Kilkenny, Nathan Lambert, John Lister, Gary Maas, Alison Marchant, Kathleen Matthews-Ward, Steve McGhie, John Mullahy, Danny Pearson, Tim Read, Pauline Richards, Tim Richardson, Michaela Settle, Ros Spence, Nick Staikos, Natalie Suleyman, Meng Heang Tak, Jackson Taylor, Nina Taylor, Kat Theophanous, Mary-Anne Thomas, Emma Vulin, Iwan Walters, Vicki Ward, Dylan Wight, Gabrielle Williams, Belinda Wilson

Noes (24): Brad Battin, Jade Benham, Tim Bull, Martin Cameron, Chris Crewther, Wayne Farnham, Sam Groth, Matthew Guy, David Hodgett, Emma Kealy, Tim McCurdy, Cindy McLeish, James Newbury, Danny O’Brien, Michael O’Brien, Kim O’Keeffe, John Pesutto, Richard Riordan, Brad Rowswell, David Southwick, Bridget Vallence, Peter Walsh, Rachel Westaway, Jess Wilson

Question agreed to.

Read second time.

Third reading

Motion agreed to.

Read third time.

The SPEAKER: The bill will now be sent to the Legislative Council and their agreement requested.