Press conference with Alicia Payne and Andrew Barr - Canberra, ACT

ALICIA PAYNE: Good morning, everyone. I’m Alicia Payne, the member for Canberra, and it’s great to be here in Civic this morning with the Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen and our Chief Minister Andrew Barr to talk about solar banks. This is a fantastic announcement which will enable more multi-dwelling buildings in Canberra to access the great benefits of rooftop solar.

It's estimated that this will benefit around 2,100 Canberra households who will reduce their energy bills by up to 35 per cent. And this, of course, builds on our other great announcements that we’ve made for Canberra around community batteries and, of course, our broader plan for addressing climate change and moving to make Australia a renewable energy superpower.

And it’s my great pleasure now to hand over to the Minister.

CHRIS BOWEN: Thanks very much, Alicia. Just before I make this announcement I just want to note, of course, that overnight the Labor Party lost in a great shock a former leader. Simon Crean’s leadership was marked by courage and by tenacity. And if for nothing else he will be remembered for his very courageous and principled opposition to the Iraq War. And history will judge Simon’s leadership very well and very kindly. 

He was also, of course, a minister in several governments – the Hawke, Keating, Rudd and Gillard governments. He had a long record of service to the Australian people. He was Leader of the Labor Party when I was first preselected as a Labor candidate. He welcomed me at that point. His loss is very deeply felt in the Labor Party, and I know he was deeply respected across Australia, and I add my words of condolence to Carole and his family.

Well, today Andrew and I are making an important announcement on behalf of our two governments. We went to the election with a commitment of solar banks across the country to help those people who want to have solar panels on their roofs but find it very difficult, particularly apartment dwellers, people who deal with the complexities of strata arrangements and renters.

One of the things that people ask me more and more about across Australia is renters – how can renters participate in the solar revolution. And it is a very difficult policy challenge when you consider the complexities of strata arrangements and renting.

But here in the ACT we’re working very collaboratively. The two governments have come up with this model to implement our solar banks commitment in the ACT in partnership with the ACT government, which would see up to 2,100 apartments in Canberra eligible for quite strong assistance when put together between the state and federal – the territory and federal governments. Support of $100,000, half through grants, half through loans, interest-free loans for the ACT government, grants through our solar bank commitment.

Now this will make a big difference to those stratas, to those apartments thinking about whether to go down the solar road, whether to go down the renewable road, wanting to, but finding it very difficult. This will make a difference to those decisions. And I want to say the ACT government is an absolute delight to deal with under Andrew’s leadership. It is a progressive government which has been at the forefront of the renewable revolution across Australia way before it was fashionable, against the tide for a long time with little support from the federal government. But now under this government we’re working hand in glove with all states and territories, but it’s been a delight with this administration to work cooperatively. And I’m hopeful that the sorts of model that we’re looking at that we’re announcing with Andrew today becomes a template across the country, and we’ll certainly enter into those negotiations now with other states with that view.

But this is an important announcement. I know Andrew’s budget is tomorrow. He’s got many important things on the boil, but it’s important that this one, which enables those households and families that have been wanting to go down the renewable road to find it easier, and it’s a partnership which I’m delighted to announce today with Chief Minister Barr.

ANDREW BARR: Thank you very much, Chris. This is a policy that really targets a section of the community who’ve not been able to access rooftop solar. Canberra has had a really strong take-up across our community with really record levels of interest in our sustainable household scheme. So in looking at how we could design this policy we have a really effective mechanism to deliver it. And what Chris and the Commonwealth have been able to bring forward is an injection of capital in a targeted way.

Yesterday I made some further announcements about the next stages of the sustainable household scheme, and we’ve been particularly focused on targeting access to capital for new rooftop solar to sections of the community who’ve not been currently accessing our scheme. So this is a really timely announcement. It’s good public policy. I’m sure it will be very popular, and I look forward to working with the Commonwealth to deliver this to make it really a part of our award winning sustainable household scheme, something that I hope will be so successful that we need to come back and have another look in a year or so about injecting some more capital into the program. But these things have to start somewhere, and it’s great that we can work together with the Commonwealth to make this possible.

We’re happy to take any questions.

JOURNALIST: Have you got an estimate of how the savings for a typical household might differ in apartments as compared to houses given that the benefits of that are shared among a number of dwellings?

ANDREW BARR: Sure, look, that is – will vary obviously from dwelling to dwelling and body corporate to body corporate. It will depend a lot on the nature of each of the buildings and their internal energy arrangements. So some have individual metering, others, of course, effectively have one single supply contractor who is then apportioned amongst each of the apartment owners according to the rules set by the body corporate.

I mean, the fundamental point, though, is that if you can’t even get solar on your rooftop, you’re not even at the starting gate for any of those benefits. So it’s going to vary. But in looking at the size of systems, the size of rooftops, the number of apartments in each complex, that’s why we think up to about a 35 per cent reduction.

JOURNALIST: Can you just clarify exactly which buildings will be eligible? Because there are obviously townhouses/apartments combined developments?

ANDREW BARR: Yeah, so it’s the strata titling element that is important, and there’s an eligibility criteria in relation to the unimproved value on average across each of the units. So we are targeting this scheme. So it’s not for your multimillion dollar apartments that nestle around Parliament House; it will be a lot more focused on suburban Canberra and I think also older unit title properties that may not have been built or certainly weren’t built with solar in mind. So our more modern buildings, they’re already incorporating rooftop solar. These are for ones that were built earlier and didn’t have that as part of their build.

JOURNALIST: But will it be just apartments?

ANDREW BARR: Look, I think there are a number of different strata arrangements. Apartments are the main focus, but I guess you could also extend the definition if you want, Ian, to include what we would know as townhouses, if they are in a strata-ed arrangement and potentially have common roof space, for example.

JOURNALIST: The Assembly inquiry into EV uptake has said it’s particularly challenging for apartment dwellers. Is this part of the way in trying to solve that, in having more sort of immediate energy source for people to use as charging – as a source of charging, or is that –

ANDREW BARR: It’s going to contribute, but I wouldn’t want to overstate that element. I think the solution is a lot more fast-chargers conveniently located. I don’t think it’s going to be possible to retrofit every single apartment complex in Canberra with an individual charging point for every single car. So I think the more efficient way to deliver EV charging opportunities for people who live in apartments is to have nearby fast charging infrastructure. We don’t have a petrol bowser in every single apartment complex either. People go to petrol stations to refuel. Similarly, I think people can go to fast charging locations. So in thinking about the rollout of our EV charging network, that’s what we’re focused on.

JOURNALIST: Chief Minister, is there any evidence the rent cap here in the ACT has decreased private rental supply, and will you be recommending at National Cabinet that other states and territories follow the ACT’s lead?

ANDREW BARR: Well, look, the ACT’s rent capping arrangements are a safeguard effectively against the most egregious forms of rental increase, but they only work when accompanied by a very significant supply-side response. So we’ve seen the share of housing in the ACT that is available for rent increase from about 26 per cent 10 years ago to 31 per cent now. We've had about a 50 per cent increase in the number of rental properties in the ACT. So having minimum rental standards for insulation and the like to ensure that the quality of the stock improves and having a 110 per cent of CPI cap, they’re effective regulation but only in the circumstance of significantly increasing supply.

I would not recommend doing it unless you have a pathway for significantly increasing supply. And that pathway is passing the Housing Australia Future Fund Bill through the Senate. So I’m calling on the Senate, the Coalition and the Greens to stop delaying. One of those two political groupings needs to pass this bill so that more supply can be added to the market.

JOURNALIST: Do you think from the Treasurer’s meeting last week that the Australian federation is on track to building that pathway to supply? Like, are the other jurisdictions going to, you know, build more houses and unlock land?

ANDREW BARR: Well, of what I’ve seen Premier Minns announce in New South Wales, what I’ve seen Premier Andrews announce for Victoria and what I know my other state and territory colleagues are looking at is a dramatic increase in supply. Now, each state and territory is at a different point in terms of its planning and zoning reforms. So here in the ACT we are well advanced. We need to do a lot of things. We need to identify where the new housing can be built, but, importantly, we need the finance to be able to go ahead and do so. And for 10 years we’ve had nothing from the Commonwealth government. We now have a Commonwealth government at the table working with the states and territories, if only the Senate would get out of the way. 

JOURNALIST: Minister Bowen, can I ask you a question about why the Commonwealth is getting involved in this scheme? Like, what, I suppose is the benefit the federal government brings to ACT –

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, we bring our financial support. States and territories have been trying to do the right thing over the last decade with no Commonwealth support. And we want to work with states and territories to get the job done. And that is when we get the best results. Now, this was an election commitment that we would roll out what we called solar banks across the country to enable those households who want to use solar but have had difficulties doing so. We’ve worked with the ACT government on implementation of that policy in an ACT context, and this is how we’re delivering on that election commitment. 

JOURNALIST: Is this more or less a pilot? Because 2,000 households isn’t much, given the number of apartments –

CHRIS BOWEN: It’s pretty important to those 2,000 households. I wouldn’t call it is pilot. No, it’s not a pilot. But it’s a good start.

JOURNALIST: But do you expect more to come?

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, as the Chief Minister said, let’s see how this goes. There’s always more to do. There’s always more to do. But there has been no support for renters and apartment dwellers by and large up until this point. So this is a very good start.

JOURNALIST: It sounds like the cooperation with the ACT government is distinct from perhaps how this is rolling out in other states. Can you give –

CHRIS BOWEN: This is certainly the first jurisdiction which we’ve negotiated this model. This is the second jurisdiction for which we’ve provided funding – the Northern Territory was first. As you would expect, a very different housing model in the Northern Territory, very different objectives and very different outcomes. But as I said before, I’d be very happy if other states and territories looked at a similar model that we’re announcing today. But that’s subject to further negotiations and discussions with my very good ministerial colleagues.

JOURNALIST: Would you expect new apartment developments to have rooftop solar as part of the development?

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, new apartments have to comply with the National Construction Code, and Minister Husic has led very important and good work to ensure better outcomes under the National Construction Code. So it’s a separate – that’s more a regulatory response than a financial response.

JOURNALIST: Minister, just a question on the net zero agency?

CHRIS BOWEN: Yeah.

JOURNALIST: So the interim agency is meant to begin work this weekend. One of its first functions is to be coordinating government policies and programs to take advantage of clean energy industries. How much power will the final authority have to direct funding out of the government’s investment funds such as the National Reconstruction Fund and the Northern Australia Infrastructure Fund?

CHRIS BOWEN: The Net Zero Authority is really important. It’s an important addition to our architecture to focus like a laser on those regions undergoing economic change as a result of our energy revolution, particularly those regions that have coal-fired power stations but not exclusively those regions.

But the funding decisions will be made by the boards of the different funds and the National Reconstruction Fund and CEFC and ARENA et cetera. So that will remain. But this will really be a one-stop-shop for those private sector investors who are looking to build the new energy jobs of the future in those regions to go to and say, “Right, we’re getting this obstacle. How do we knock this over?” The Net Zero Authority will be able to work with ministers, state and federal, with various funding agencies to identify those obstacles and to identify ways of knocking them over.

JOURNALIST: Chief Minister, can you understand the disappointment from some households and businesses in the ACT at changes to the sustainable household scheme with regard to solar?

ANDREW BARR: Well, the capital for the scheme was initially set at $150 million. We put another $50 million in a year ago to sustain the scheme further. But we need to change our focus now to look at electrification. So the transition from gas to electric. Rooftop solar is important; it adds to the supply of renewable electricity. But in looking at our scheme and where the money was going, we felt that we needed to focus it in solar perspective on low and middle-income households and areas of housing in Canberra that weren’t accessing the scheme. Hence today’s announcement is very important.

In relation to those above average unimproved valued properties in the ACT, the scheme is still open for the transition from gas to electric appliances, for an interest-free loan towards an electric vehicle, or an electric vehicle charging equipment. But it’s important at this point to acknowledge that the price of solar systems, new solar systems, has come down. And if you’re sitting on land worth more than three-quarters of a million dollars, you probably now don’t need an interest-free loan from the government to put solar panels on your roof.

What we want the loan to be there for is for households who don’t have either significant equity in their mortgage or households who don’t have $10,000 sitting around to invest in making the switch. That’s the purpose of the scheme. We always had a cap; we just lowered that three years into the scheme because the original capital injection had run out. But we’re putting another $80 million; seven and a half million has come from the Commonwealth. So we’re not winding up the scheme; we’re just making some adjustments at this point.

JOURNALIST: Can I ask you about Civic Pool quickly? Is it going to be Southbank, akin to Brisbane? Or what’s the plan?

ANDREW BARR: Well, we’re working with the National Capital Authority. They’ve undertaken or commencing a master planning process on Commonwealth Park. We had a discussion about what would be needed to improve the facility to make it better for Floriade and the like. And the idea of moving the pool into the park came up. So they were happy to consider it. We were happy to work with them on it. It’s at that stage at the moment. But what is clear – and I’ve said this before – that that pool was built for the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. Certainly well ahead of the Brisbane Olympics we are going to need a new swimming pool, and we’re looking at where it should be built. And I think Commonwealth Park would be an attractive location.

JOURNALIST: Of course, it would free up that site for development.

ANDREW BARR: We also have a need for a new police and emergency services headquarters. We have a need for a major live music venue, and we have a need for new convention facilities. If we could fit all on Constitution Avenue, that would be fantastic. Glorious. Okay, thank you.