Press conference in Blacktown, Sydney, NSW

BRAD BUNTING: Welcome everybody to Blacktown International Sports Park, and what an exciting morning it is here today. A question for you: is there a further gap in the major parties here in Australia? While Sussan Ley and Angus Taylor are in Canberra talking about the word ‘net zero’, we've got Anthony Albanese's Labor Government led by Minister Bowen here announcing great practical solutions for my community here in Blacktown.

This announcement today does not just- allows us to cut emissions but puts money back into local community, into local sports, so that they can either reduce registration or buy more equipment for their growing community, their sporting community here in Blacktown. I want to thank Minister Bowen for continuing to be able to lead the way in this space, and it's great to be able to have him here in Blacktown to make this announcement. Thank you, Minister Bowen.

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, thanks, Mayor Brad. Well, what's good for the planet is good for your pocket. That's true for households. It's true for countries. And it’s true for local councils. So today, I'm releasing the results of round two of the Albanese Government's Community Energy Upgrades Fund. And I'm very pleased that Blacktown Council, where I've decided to launch these results, will receive $1.9 million to put solar panels and batteries in here at the Blacktown International Sports Park and the Charlie Lowles Leisure Centre as well.

So, from Blacktown to Bathurst to Bega, local governments across New South Wales, 23 of them, are going to reduce their bills and their emissions. Take Charleston Council in the Hunter region. They'll reduce their energy bill by $128,000 a year. Or Camden Council, where they're putting in solar panels and a battery to replace the gas boiler in their leisure centre, they'll reduce their energy bills there by 53 per cent or around $185,000 a year. And as the Mayor said, that's money that can be better spent. With all due respect, not sending it to energy companies each month or each quarter, but sending it to the community, with new programs to support local sports or rates relief or whatever the council chooses to do with that money, and importantly, reducing their emissions as well.

To achieve our emissions reductions targets, which are ambitious and achievable, we need to be all in – federal government, state governments, local councils, businesses, communities. I believe in Australia, we are all in, almost all in, in that task. And this is, as the Mayor said, delivery, delivery, delivery, focused on getting on with the job that the Australian people instructed us to proceed with in May. To get on with the job of reducing bills, putting down downward pressure, and reducing emissions, that's what they asked us to do. That's what we're doing in partnership today with local government.

Today, I'm releasing the New South Wales results of the Community Energy Upgrades Fund. Blacktown, Bega, Bathurst, Camden, councils right across Australia, Blayney, right across New South Wales, and there will be further announcements in coming days about the other states. So this is a good day. I want to thank Blacktown Council for such a good bid. Partnered with Cricket for Climate and Origin Energy, put in a compelling bid which has seen the ratepayers of Blacktown as big winners, and of course the planet as a big winner as well as our local sporting community. So this is win, win, win for everyone and right across local government, none more so here than in Blacktown, thanks to the leadership of Mayor Brad and his team who've put in strong bid and one that we're very happy to support.

I'm going to ask Jo Bowen, also known as the Good Bowen, to add on behalf of Cricket for Climate. Jo Bowen, no relation, who'll make a few remarks. And it's a very good day for sports clubs and for local government across New South Wales.

JO BOWEN: Thank you, Minister and Mayor Brad Bunting. Hi. Jo Bowen. So again, just to build on the excitement of the announcement that we're making today for Blacktown City Council, we're launching Power Up Play, which is an evolution of the work that we've been leading through Cricket for Climate on community-based cricket clubs.

This model is way more innovative, and we were extremely thrilled to be able to pull this together with partners, Blacktown City Council who themselves are really innovative in the sustainability space, and Origin Zero as our sort of really bold, ambitious energy transition partners. 

This is a model that's going to put a virtual power plant across venues like this sporting precinct, others, but also connecting community cricket clubs as well. It's got community batteries linked in it as well. So, effectively through this model, we're not just getting energy transition and energy savings for the game and for individual clubs, but we're actually powering Blacktown community as well. So, really exciting announcement this morning. We believe this is the first of its kind across sporting precincts here in Australia, and so we're really hopeful that it becomes a blueprint for other sort of councils and LGAs to take a look at. 

Thank you.

CHRIS BOWEN: Great. Good stuff. Thanks, guys.