Address to Australasian Emissions Reduction Summit, Melbourne

As we gather on the lands of the Kulin people, I acknowledge their elders and all Indigenous people with us today.

I also want to acknowledge the elders of Yolngu people and the other traditional owners of Arnhem Land with who I spent two days a few weeks ago observing first hand the savanna burning method in operation and also saw the investments being made in education on country that are funded by the operation of the method.

Emissions down, education funding up.  It’s a good example of utilising the power of the carbon market for profound, practical and positive outcomes.

In fact the CSIRO research has indicated that those practices are more effective than initially estimated, with the new SavCAM tool showing that existing savanna projects moving on to the new methods could be eligible to receive substantial additional ACCUs.

That means more fire money from those carbon credits funding more schools and providing more secure jobs – and of course more emissions abatement.

Well, in 2022 I spoke at this conference as a newly minted Minister for Climate Change and Energy – just one month into the role.

I was fresh from lodging Australia’s updated 2030 target – with a pledge to cut emissions by 43% below 2005 levels.

And so, I am pleased to be back with you, three years later, continuing in the role after a clear election victory in which the climate and energy debate played no small role.

In 2022 my message was simple – a policy reset on climate action and energy was underway.

In 2025 my message is also simple: a lot done, a lot more to do.

We've made good progress in the last three years, sometimes against headwinds.

But that progress is just the beginning. The headwinds remain but the opportunities remain bigger.

That good progress in our first term includes big reforms to the Safeguard Mechanism and the long overdue introduction of the New Vehicle Efficiency Standards finally passing the Parliament, as well as steady progress in the journey towards 82% renewables.

The task for the second term is to consolidate, deliver and build on that progress.

Because we know that means more jobs, cheaper energy, and a better standard of living.

The good news is the Australian people have instructed us to get on with it.

And they are getting on with it with us.

The election result was a clear rejection of the politics of delay and denial.

And even since then, Australians have shown their practical approach to policies which reduce emissions and bills.

We went to the election promising cheaper home batteries, and on 1 July we delivered on that promise.

The Australian people have been delivering since then.

Since July 1 more than 29,013 Australian households, small businesses and community groups have installed a battery under the policy and we are currently averaging 1000 installations each and every business day.

That’s over three times the rate we saw in 2024, with more installations in the first month than for a quarter in 2024.

All this gives us confidence, hope and determination.

It's true that the political debate in Australia can be dispiriting when it comes to climate.

In 2025, there are still those who rail against the most basic concept, the most basic objective of net zero by 2050.

They ignore the fact that net zero is what the rest of the world is getting on with. It’s what the experts say is critical to avoiding the worst impacts of climate change – which is why around 84% of global GDP is covered by net zero commitments, including our major trading partners Japan and South Korea.

It's frustrating that in 2025, nearly twenty years after the Stern Review so clearly established that not acting on climate change is much more expensive than acting, that we remain in a debate about whether action is economically justified.

Sure, it's annoying that four years after the Morrison/Joyce Government released modelling showing Australians would be $2000 a year on average better off by moving to net zero that there are former senior members of that government denying the economic reality.

And yes, I understand the frustration at the false argument that somehow Australia shouldn't do anything because they reckon the rest of the world isn't doing anything, ignoring the fact that 92.5% of new electricity capacity added globally in 2024 was renewable, and that countries like China and India are actually adding renewable energy at an eye-watering rate.

And on the other side of the argument, there are those who dispute that a well regulated, rigorously assessed, highly professional carbon trading system should play any role in our drive towards net zero.

This is also an ill-informed view.

But again, take heart from the views of the Australian people, who spoken in a clear and unmistakable fashion, in their words and their actions:  "keep going, get on with it".

Getting on with it is the approach that my Assistant Minister Josh Wilson and I are taking when it comes to ensuring the ACCU scheme is fit for purpose, growing and making a meaningful contribution to emissions reduction.

The development of new methods remains a priority for us when it comes to further supporting the ACCU Scheme – and we are on track to deliver three new methods this year.

After environmental plantings last year, these are the next set of methods to come through our beefed-up integrity process following the Chubb Review. These methods are going through the reconstituted Emissions Reduction Assurance Committee.

I'm pleased that these rigorous integrity reforms are working. I won’t pretend that carbon markets are at the forefront of the day-to-day lives of most Australians – but maintaining public confidence in these schemes is critical to genuine emissions reduction.

Today Minister Wilson and I are releasing the exposure drafts of the proposed new sequestration and emissions avoidance savanna fire management method.

This method will build and grow the vast number of savanna fire management projects currently registered under the Scheme.

Projects under the new method will mean more First Nations jobs on Country, more income from the sale of ACCUs, and increased capacity to care for Country, culture and communities.

The new savanna fire management method for emissions avoidance-only activities is on track to be released in October, subject to ERAC consideration. This method will also build in the new science and knowledge and ensure there will continue to be a range of options for new savanna projects into the future.

The new method for landfill gas is on track to be made by the end of this year.

This new method, which combines two older methods, addresses the recommendation of the Chubb Review that baselines for the landfill gas methods be revised and increased over time.

The department is working closely with stakeholders to deliver the new Integrated Farm and Land Management method.

The Government is also delivering on its commitment to provide more innovative new methods.

Proponents are leading development of a further four new and prioritised methods, with consultation underway.

As with all methods, these will be subject to independent and rigorous assessment by the ERAC against the legislated integrity standards, and subject to public consultation.

Friends, there is much work to do.

This work includes in coming weeks and months.

There is a busy period ahead, which includes but is not limited to releasing the National Climate Risk Assessment and National Adaptation Plan.

Receiving and considering the Climate Change Authority advice on our 2035 target, and releasing that target along side six sector decarbonisation plans and a new National Net Zero Plan. That target will be ambitious and achievable.  It will be based on rigorous analysis of the possible, of the economic benefits and of the science.

I will again be representing Australia at COP30, continuing to restore Australia's international climate leadership after nearly decade in the international wilderness.

And of course, we’re working across government to secure the hosting of COP31 in Adelaide, an unparalleled opportunity for Australia to provide international leadership with our Pacific family and to ensure the world is aware of the Australia's place as one of the best markets in which to invest in renewable energy.

In the first term working together we were able to harness consensus and show what is possible.

In these coming months I will again seek that consensus – to make our collective ambition for a cleaner, safer world achievable.