Press conference with Attorney General Michelle Rowland, Rouse Hill, NSW

MICHELLE ROWLAND: I'm delighted to be here in Rouse Hill this morning with Kenny and his family to look at his new home battery that he's had installed under the Cheaper Home Batteries program. Greenway has a great story to tell with this most amazing program initiated by Minister Chris Bowen. And we have some 1,000 residents across Greenway who have now taken advantage of this scheme, saving up to $1,100 on their power bills. So, this directly goes to cost of living and addressing that.

In particular, this is a story about the outer metro areas of our regions, of our capital cities. It's not one about the inner cities. It's about people being assisted in very practical ways with their cost of living through this program. So, I'm delighted to welcome Minister Chris Bowen to tell us about a really significant milestone that's been reached with our home batteries program.
Thanks, Chris.

CHRIS BOWEN: Thanks, Michelle. It's wonderful to be here with you in your electorate that you represent so well. And today is a big day in the Cheaper Home Batteries policy. It came into force on the 1st of July, and as of today, 100,000 Australian households have installed a cheaper home battery under our policy - 100,000 families across Australia reducing their bills and their emissions at the same time. This is a remarkable, remarkable achievement for this program.

And two other milestones are being surpassed today as well. Two gigawatt hours of storage has been added as of today, and that is a 50 per cent increase in the home battery storage on what existed before the 1st of July.

So three milestones today for the cheaper home batteries policy which shows Australians getting on with it. Government policy, sure, but Australians making the decision that they want to reduce their bills and emissions right across Australia, and nowhere more so, as Michelle said, than the suburbs of Australia.

And the reason we're in Rouse Hill is, of all the postcodes in Australia, Rouse Hill has the highest take-up. Spread across your electorate, Michelle, and the electorate of Mitchell, the people of Rouse Hill are getting on with the job. And that suburb, that postcode, has the highest take-up in all of Australia. So, people reducing bills, reducing emissions, and also supporting Australian jobs. And I'm delighted we've got Jake from PSC who might say a little bit more about how this program is working for the installers across the country.

A hundred thousand batteries installed with a successfully implemented program, 100,000 customers are happy across Australia, and this program is only really just getting started. Just over 100 days in, here we are at 100,000 batteries installed. It's a good day for Australia and Australia's getting on with it.

We might ask Kenny, who's our very happy owner here, who's been good enough to share his story with us, and Jake, who has installed many of those batteries just to share a few words with us as well.

KENNY: Yeah, so I moved in here in August last year and had a pretty big power bill every month averaging about $240 per month. And had a great opportunity and great success with Penrith Solar to really figure out how do I get this down. And my recent battery has powered the house at night, allowed the kids to have air con. And the game changer here is this month my battery bill is $10, and that's huge, that's awesome and I'm making the most of it. And my kids as well get air con at night and they really, really have a great night's sleep. I have a great night's sleep as a result as well. Thanks, Jake and your team.

JAKE: Thank you, mate – unreal. Yeah, we'd like to give a huge shout out to Minister Bowen and the Labor Government, the Albanese Government for the Cheaper Home Batteries program.
Based in Penrith, Western Sydney, we've seen a huge uptake in not only battery storage but also solar as well. One hundred thousand batteries is a huge amount of work for a workforce to get done. Rest assured we are recruiting and resourcing as quickly as possible to continue being able to deliver as many high quality solar and battery systems as what we see here for Kenny’s family right here in Rouse Hill.

CHRIS BOWEN: We'll take questions. I understand we've got journos on the phone.

JOURNALIST: Olivia here from the ABC, you happy for me to jump in?

CHRIS BOWEN: Yeah, away you go.

JOURNALIST: Thank you. The ABC has been told that the Government wrote to Erdogan a couple of weeks ago with an offer that would allow Australia to hold the COP presidency but, potentially, share COP hosting rights. Have you received a response yet and how close are you to a deal?

CHRIS BOWEN: There's absolutely no secret to the fact, I've said it publicly many times we were in discussions with Turkiye about hosting COP31. The COP rules mean that, despite the fact Australia has overwhelming support, overwhelming support of our international peers to host COP31, there must be a consensus result. which means, in effect, striking agreement with a country which has also bid.

I met with my counterpart in New York. Of course, you'd be unsurprised to know there's been further discussions, including at various levels, myself - the Foreign Minister and the Prime Minister, That shouldn't be surprising to people. We'll continue those discussions. They have not concluded.

JOURNALIST: Will you be able to close the deal at Belem, or will the Prime Minister need to travel to Brazil to get it done?

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, Belem is the key decision-making point for the host of COP31, because it is COP30, that's where the decision is made, that’s what we’re working towards.

JOURNALIST: Okay so it won’t requite the Prime Minister necessarily to go to Brazil to get it over the line?

CHRIS BOWEN: The decision will be made at COP30. That’s where the decision will be made.

JOURNALIST: If there's no one else there perhaps I could just ask, Mr Bowen, how important the environmental laws are that will be introduced to Parliament this week?

CHRIS BOWEN: Very important for the country, very important for long overdue reform. This was recommended by Graeme Samuel to the previous Environment Minister, Sussan Ley. This has been something which this Government has wanted to do for a long time. The time now is for the Parliament to respond to the Government's proposals.

Murray Watt has done a first-class job, he'll introduce the legislation this week. This will be important not only for our renewables rollout, of course it will be - we want to get to faster yeses and faster no’s. Not every project is in the right time at the right place, that's what the planning approval system is for. We want to see these results happen quicker, whether it's a yes or a no - not just for renewables, but for housing across the board; to see jobs created across our country. So, I think we're hopeful that the parliament will pass sensible reforms.

JOURNALIST: And who do you think you should strike a deal with in order to get these laws through Parliament? Obviously, the Greens have indicated they want a climate trigger which, obviously, the Government isn't a fan of; and the Coalition has their own concerns around perhaps this impacting industry. Which would be the better pathway?

CHRIS BOWEN: The pathway which ensures reforms are implemented. That's what Minister Watt will work through. The Labor Party does not have the majority support in the Senate. We're confident of our numbers in the House of Representatives, but not in the Senate. We need support of another party in the Senate. Minister Watt has made clear he's open to either pathway. He's speaking to both parties, that's very good sensible Senate management. And he will strike, we hope, an agreement with one of them. OK, we all in or done?

JOURNALIST: Can I ask a question on a different topic to Michelle Rowland, if she's there?

MICHELLE ROWLAND: Sure. Hi.

JOURNALIST: Hi there. This is a slightly different topic, but we heard from out of Senate Estimates that the Head of the National Anti-Corruption Commission, Paul Brereton, had consulted for the Inspector General of the Australian Defence Force on 11 occasions since taking on the top integrity job. So, this has led to experts and also just sort of concerns around how he's managing those conflicts or perceived conflicts of interest. Were you aware that he had spoken or provided advice to the IGADF on those 11 occasions as emerged out of Senate Estimates?

MICHELLE ROWLAND: Well, those disclosures were made to the previous Attorney-General and, as part of the process for his appointment and on an ongoing basis, disclosures are made and they are all made in the proper way.

JOURNALIST: Okay, that might be the case but we know from the dates that emerged out of Senate Estimates that there were 11 dates and many of which came under your term as Attorney-General as soon as, or as recently, I should say, as the 26th of September 2025. Were you personally aware that this was happening? And are you satisfied that the perceived conflicts of interest are being handled appropriately, given the National Anti-Corruption Commission also deals with Defence investigations?

MICHELLE ROWLAND: Well, certainly all those disclosures are made through the department so they are known but they are done in the proper way. And I would just like to say that the Government and myself, as Attorney-General, have confidence in the NAC and the NAC Commissioner, and it is getting on with its important work.

JOURNALIST: Okay. But the NAC Chief Executive, Philip Reid, said that he was not aware that this work or consulting work was being done. So, why is that appropriate?

MICHELLE ROWLAND: Well, it is appropriate that disclosures are made and that is the ordinary course of events that are done, and the department has satisfied itself of that.

JOURNALIST: Okay. So, but even though the head of the National Anti-Corruption Commission, the Chief Executive, didn't know that was happening?

MICHELLE ROWLAND: Well, I can't answer for the CEO. All I can tell you is that the disclosures that are made by the NAC Commissioner are done in the ordinary course of events and in the normal way.

CHRIS BOWEN: Okay, that sounds like a wrap.

JOURNALIST: Thank you.

CHRIS BOWEN: That's a wrap. Thanks, guys. Very good