Press conference in Canberra, ACT

CHRIS BOWEN: Good morning. The release of the default market offer draft today by the Australian Energy Regulator shows that after the world’s biggest energy crisis in 50 years, energy pricers are stabilising and there’s a downward trend. Now, there’s a long, long way to go, but this is encouraging news – encouraging for those small businesses and families who will receive lower energy bills as a result.

But nobody should suggest that there aren’t real cost of living pressures around the world and in Australia, and energy prices are, of course, part of that and will continue to be. But the result shows the impact of the government’s coal and gas caps. It shows the impact of lessening international pressures. It shows the impact of getting more renewables into the system – the cheapest form of energy available. And it shows the impact of my request, along with State Ministers, to the Australian Energy Regulator to prioritise the needs of consumers, to put consumers first in this draft default market offer rather than competition.

So this is encouraging, but we’ve got a long way to go. I welcome the fact that for small businesses in particular in some jurisdictions there are reductions: in the case of those on Ausgrid network of 9.7 per cent; in South Australia, 8.2 per cent; Energex, 0.3 per cent; and Endeavour 4.4 per cent. And, of course, reductions for consumers, for example, 3 per cent for Ausgrid, and in relation to – sorry, with controlled load, 7 per cent for Endeavour, 3.4 per cent for Ausgrid, and there are other examples. And, of course, the Victorian default market offer, which is in a slightly separate process declared by the Victorian regulator, 6 per cent reductions for residential and 7 per cent for small business.

Now, of course, we’ll continue with the task at hand – that is, getting more renewables into the system, which is the cheapest form of energy available. There are others with alternative ideas about the most expensive form of energy available. That’s not the road that we will go down. We’ll continue to consider in the federal budget, of course, any sensible cost of living relief. Our focus in the first couple of months of this year has been a very significant cost of living package, which is our tax cuts, which have helped every taxpayer and seen many get bigger tax cuts. That has been the focus of the first couple of months of the year. Of course, as the Treasurer, the Prime Minister and I have always said, we’re in the cart for more sensible cost of living relief, but that’s something we’ll do in the budget.

Happy to take some questions.

JOURNALIST: Minister, how – what proportion of market are on these default market offers, and what does it mean for those people who aren’t?

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, this actually impacts either directly or indirectly on every energy bill – directly for those who are on the default market offer, but for those who aren’t on the default market offer, it’s indirectly because the energy companies have to benchmark themselves against this. They have to tell their consumers how they to compare to this, and it provides very real pressure on them to match it. And if they don’t, then consumers will know about it and will make choices accordingly. So it’s partly about those on the default market offer, but it actually impacts on all our bills indirectly.

JOURNALIST: You said, you’ve got the coal and gas caps starting to contribute to this. How sustainable are they long term to keep prices down [indistinct]?

CHRIS BOWEN: Look, we’ve made clear that we’ve moved from – moved to a gas code of conduct, and that has a similar impact and that’s got an ongoing process and impact. The coal caps, we’ve always made clear were time limited, and that doesn’t change. But they’ve had an impact. And, as I said, they were particular for, you know, a time of massive international pressure, and we’ve seen some of that pressure come off recently, which is, of course, very welcome.

You know, some denied the impact of international pressure when energy prices were going up. I don’t deny the impact of international changes as energy prices are coming down. It has an impact both ways.

JOURNALIST: The political debate obviously centres a lot on the $275 promise from the previous election campaign. So how would you put today’s news in the context of that promise? How are you getting towards an outcome next year that shows how you deliver what you said to voters before the last election?

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, I’m not going to pre-empt next year’s default market offer. But, nevertheless, as I said, I regard this as encouraging but much, much more to do. I mean, the race isn’t run, and nor would anybody – well, nor would anybody, I think, sensibly suggest that it is. We have more work to do. We have more work to do in getting more renewables into the system. You know, what we’re doing there. We saw some figures recently which were encouraging – record investment in batteries and large-scale storage of 4.9 billion, new financial commitments, 27 large-scale batteries under construction at the end of 2023, 337,000 rooftop solar systems installed across the country, and 5.9 gigawatts of renewable generation added. That’s good, but we’ve got more to do. And, of course, in coming weeks I’ll say more particularly about our Capacity Investment Scheme and its rollout. Yeah.

JOURNALIST: Just following on from David’s question, do you think that the promise from – before the last election can still be met or are you ready to concede that it might be missed?

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, we’re not giving up on the plan for cheaper electricity for Australians. Others might by introducing the most expensive form of energy available in the world – nuclear. We’re not giving up on the task at hand, which is getting more renewables into the system to reduce prices and emissions.

JOURNALIST: In terms of the government’s strategy that you undertook to deliver the cheap power predicated on large-scale renewable generation coming online, what sort of plans and also what sort of goals do you have set for the next year to hook up, I guess through the CIS, to hook up more large-scale generation and get more projects through?

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, I think you’ve answered the question, Mark, particularly through the CIS. But –

JOURNALIST: Is it approvals, though, Minister?

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, approvals are part of it. So, in relation to the CIS, as I said, I’ll have more to say – an update on the first option and the renewable energy transformation agreements with states, which I’ll have more to say on in the coming weeks. The Renewable Transformation Agreements are important in terms of partly planning systems. Obviously Tanya Plibersek has been making good progress on faster approvals of renewables. And we’ve seen – you know, we’ve seen her approve quite appropriately after due diligence, you know, record numbers of approvals on her watch, which is welcome.

We’ll always look at the things we can do to get to yes or no more quickly, and she’s been doing that. And that’s been paying some results. We’ll also work with states through Renewable Energy Transformation Agreements. Considering, you know, most approvals go through states, the big ones coming through the EPBC, but most go through states, obviously that’s part of it. But we’re not going to water down any laws, but working cooperatively to get to yes or no more quickly is a sensible thing. We’ve been doing it, and will continue to do it.

JOURNALIST: Minister, the Nationals are backing Greens to use investor powers against supermarkets. Considering this has been done overseas, will the Government consider getting behind this?

CHRIS BOWEN: It’s interesting that the Nationals are taking a different position to the Liberals. So what’s the position of the opposition? I don’t know. I mean, I’ve heard Mr Littleproud out this morning. I’d be interested to know what Mr Dutton thinks. We have – the Treasurer has commissioned a review of supermarkets, so we’ll go through things in the normal methodical, careful way, not the sort of haphazard National Party way.

JOURNALIST: So is it on the cards or not?

CHRIS BOWEN: It’s not something we’re contemplating.

JOURNALIST: Just on Paul Keating’s meeting with Wang Yi, is it mischievous of Beijing to set this up?

CHRIS BOWEN: Not at all. Not at all. I mean, it’s singularly unsurprising that a visiting Foreign Minister would meet with a former Prime Minister – any of them who they chose. Prime Minister – former Prime Minister Keating is deeply respected across Asia as the man who first pointed out that Australia would seek its security in Asia, not from Asia. Wang Yi’s visit is important, it’s a symbol of the stabilisation of the relationship which this government has fostered and which China has reciprocated. That’s important as our largest trading partner, I think most people would understand that. Minister Wang Yi will be meeting with serving current ministers, and it’s singularly unsurprising that he would meet with a former Prime Minister, particularly one such as former Prime Minister Keating who has championed deeper ties with Asia.

JOURNALIST: Can I ask you about the NVES standards-

CHRIS BOWEN: Sure.

JOURNALIST: You said on Insiders, a week or so ago you were prepared to consider sensible changes to proposals. Can I ask, can you let us in where your thinking is. If we can get more frequent reviews over the five years are you prepared to change -  

CHRIS BOWEN: I’m not doing that consultation in this room. I think –

JOURNALIST: A lot of these issues have been published.

CHRIS BOWEN: As I said to David Speers, “Let me look 30 seconds into the future. You’re about to ask me to rule in or out a whole range of options, and I’m not going to do that.” What I have said and will continue to say, is that this is a very important reform for consumers and motorists and emissions. And this government works consultatively. So last year Minister King and I issued two separate consultation papers, received hundreds of submissions, worked them through then came out with a preferred position and made clear that was a preferred position for consultation. We didn’t have to do that. We could have just legislated. But that’s not the sort of government the Prime Minister runs. It’s not my approach; it’s not Catherine’s.

We’ve been talking to people across industry about sensible ways of implementing that reform. Where people come to us and say, “We agree with your reform. We agree with what you’re trying to achieve. We agree it’s important, but here’s some ideas about how it can be done more sensibly, you know, to help us implement it,” we’re all ears. We’re all ears. And those meetings have been occurring and will continue to occur. And Catherine and I will have more to say. What we’re not interested in is, you know, people trying to say, “Well, we’d support an emissions standard so long as it doesn’t work, so long as it doesn’t change our behaviour.”

JOURNALIST: Can I just follow up, can you accommodate the various requests to make it workable and still meet your emissions reduction target, I think it’s 2030?

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, it’s got very small impact on the 2030 target because we’re starting in 2025, and most Australians – and Australian cars stay on the road for about 17 years. So as you would impact – as you would consider, it’s got an impact of a small number of tonnes in 2030. So it’s not material for that. It would have some influence, of course, on our 2035 target, but I haven’t announced what that is yet.

JOURNALIST: Minister, on the same topic, the Greens are, I guess, re-emphasising their offer to you to back the emissions standards if the government drops the changes to consultation on the gas projects, I know it’s not specifically your portfolio but they’ve raised some major concerns about that particular issue in terms of how Indigenous communities could be consulted on any new projects, is that something you’re considering?

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, Josh, this is a reform that’s been in the too-hard basket for 20 years that many in the motoring lobby – by which I mean the peak motoring groups, which is the NRMA and the RACQ and the RACWA, for example – have been calling on and also in the climate movement have been calling on. I don’t think the Greens want to seriously contemplate standing in the way of that important reform.

JOURNALIST: Minister, last night the Chief Scientist seemed to back your side when it comes to renewable energy versus nuclear. If you have the backing of the Chief Scientist, and it seems the business community, why not stand up at the National Press Club and debate Peter Dutton on the issue as he’s offering?

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, Peter Dutton might want to turn up at the Press Club by himself for a change and answer some of your questions. And, you know, I’m sure there’ll be plenty of opportunities for all of us to debate, and perhaps it’s some of the six sites – some of the six sites that Peter Dutton is going to reveal as sites for nuclear power stations. And, you know, he’s welcome to do that as soon as he likes. I mean, he could do it today, and then there’ll be plenty of opportunities for debates.

You know, the fact that – the fact of the matter is, you talked about the Chief Scientist. The alternative Prime Minister of Australia disparaged Australia’s peak scientific organisation, the CSIRO, in a way which was not becoming or befitting the alternative Prime Minister of Australia. Just because he doesn’t like the report, just because it doesn’t support his ideological prejudices against renewable energy and in favour of nuclear, it is not an opportunity for him as alternative Prime Minister of Australia to say a report by the CSIRO and AEMO is discredited when it is not. And he was factually wrong – factually wrong – when he said it didn’t include transmission costs. He wants to, one, check his facts, two, be more respectful to the CSIRO.

JOURNALIST: With legislation, with the moratorium, without breaking the Labor Party’s platform just to prove your point to the [indistinct]?

CHRIS BOWEN: No, because – well, putting aside that question, you know, I hear this argument, “Just lift the moratorium and let the market sort it out.” The market hasn’t sorted it out anywhere in the world. What sorts it out is big transfers of taxpayer wealth from the taxpayer to nuclear developers. We’re not doing it. We’re not going to do that. So why lift the ban, because it would send the signal that we might contemplate that, which we’re not.

I’ve got to go to a caucus meeting. Thanks.