Press conference, Sydney

CHRIS BOWEN: To reduce emissions, we are going to need a Team Australia moment. We're going to need to be all in to meet the sorts of targets that the government announced yesterday. The good news is Australians know what's good for your pocket is good for the planet. That's true of households, it's true of the country, it's true of businesses, it's true of community sporting clubs. And if we're really going to move the dial as a country, every single element of our society wants to be all in on this transition. And right across Australia we know that in communities there's very little that's more important to the lifeblood of a community than community sport. On a Saturday and Sunday, mums and dads sitting on the sideline watching their kids play. For the really dedicated, playing on into adulthood. Community sport is such an important part. And community sporting clubs aren't flush with strong budgets often, and every dollar counts, so here we can reduce emissions and reduce the running costs of community sporting clubs at the same time.

So, today we're announcing the Game On! program, $50 million to support community sporting clubs, to reduce their bills and emissions, and also to adapt to climate change. So this funding will be available to want to put solar panels and batteries or other measures to reduce their emissions. Also available for those clubs who are having to deal with the impacts of climate change, whether they need an awning for hot days or they need to deal with flooding more regularly of their pitches and fields. Sporting clubs of all varieties, cricket, AFL, rugby league, rugby union, baseball, you name it, will be able to apply for this funding. I'm sure it will be much sought after and I'm sure that we can make a real difference.

I want to thank Pat Cummins, without whom this wouldn't have happened. He came to see me some time ago with this idea. When we hear a good idea, we grab it. And he's right to say, you've got support for households, you've got support for businesses, you've got support for local governments, can we do something for sporting clubs? And today we are doing that. There's a big task ahead of us as a country. It's a Team Australia moment, and Pat Cummins is the captain of Team Australia in so many ways, and I'm delighted that we're able to partner with sporting clubs across the board to get this job done. So Pat, thanks for your leadership of not only the Australian cricket team but an important national conversation and thanks for partnering with the Australian Government on this initiative which will apply right across the suburbs and regions to reduce bills and emissions.

PAT CUMMINS: Thanks, Minister Bowen. Yeah, it's great to be here at Howell Oval. This is where we actually – the idea of Cricket for Climate was born. We put some solar panels on the roof here, and, you know, that's created some real savings for the Penrith Cricket Club that they can then put into their programs that aren't as well funded normally, from women's programs to junior programs. And that's really what the Sport Forever fund is. We're going to be able to roll that out on scale and make a difference to community clubs all across Australia.

For me, sporting clubs was a huge part of my childhood. I believe over 40 million Aussies go and visit sporting clubs each week. It is part of Australia. So your support, we can make a real difference for something that is so ingrained into the Australian culture. So thank you, Minister Bowen, and your team.

CHRIS BOWEN: Thanks, Pat. Questions on this announcement?

JOURNALIST: Minister, what’s the cost associated with [inaudible]…

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, it's a $50 million program across all sporting clubs. I think that'll be very heavily subscribed. And then, you know, we'll roll that money out and then we'll see how we've gone and we'll assess it from there.

JOURNALIST: [Inaudible question]

CHRIS BOWEN: We'll deal with that separately. So just no more questions on this announcement? Okay, great.

JOURNALIST: How do you feel Pat has represented this issue? [Inaudible]…

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, Pat's a great advocate. As I said, this wouldn't have happened without Pat's leadership, without Cricket for Climate's leadership coming to see me initially, then the Prime Minister and Treasurer and saying, look, we really think we can make this work. And we agreed with him. So again, when we hear a good idea, we'll grab it, and when the captain of the Australian cricket team comes and says we want to be all in to reduce bills and emissions, we're on board.

JOURNALIST: Can you see this being replicated, what they've done nationwide?

CHRIS BOWEN: Oh, indeed. Look, you know, and again, I'm not pretending this is the answer to every, you know, infrastructure ask for every sporting club across Australia. No one would suggest that. But it's an important part of it. And I also hope it might spur in clubs who maybe haven't thought about solar panels and a battery yet, but think, oh, well, now that there's this funding, plus batteries are 30 per cent cheaper, we can do something with this. You know, when you're running the canteen on the weekend, it takes energy. And clubs don't have, you know, money to spare. They're paying for equipment, paying for trips away. We don't want them prioritising energy bills over those sorts of decisions. We want them reducing their energy bills and their emissions, and we want to help them do that.

JOURNALIST: Is this something that cricket clubs have been saying that they really [inaudible]…

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, Pat might want to talk about the feedback he's had from cricket clubs, but from Cricket for Climate to me, yes, and cricket clubs generally and sporting clubs. I mean, we had an event in Canberra a few weeks ago. It wasn't just cricket. AFL, rugby league, you name it, all represented, all asking for this. Pat?

PAT CUMMINS: Yeah, you know, it's sporting clubs in general. You know, for cricket clubs like Penrith here, it's about reducing costs, you know, through installation of solar and battery. But for other clubs, in recent months we've had loads of community sport cancelled due to the flooding. So maybe it might be, again as the Minister said, some adaption measures where we can hopefully get those sporting clubs to bounce back from flooding and extreme rainfall quicker. Extreme heat, you know, creating awnings and different solutions to kind of meet the changes in the climate going forward, but also hopefully create some real savings that then can make sure these community clubs keep running.

JOURNALIST: What's the long-term goal for this? Like where do you see this in a few decades [indistinct] Australia?

PAT CUMMINS: I’m not great on the numbers but is it 4,000 community clubs, or am I way off there?

CHRIS BOWEN: Sounds about right.

PAT CUMMINS: Yeah, something like that. You know, we think with something like this funding, we might be able to do, say, you know, around 500 or so initially. Again, every club's going to look a little bit different, what kind of solution we want, but hopefully we can just make community sport more accessible to more Aussies.

JOURNALIST: And Minister, how many clubs currently have solar panels installed?

CHRIS BOWEN: I'm not aware of that in particular, but I would say it's a pretty small proportion of the total and we want to help more.

JOURNALIST: Do you have any indication of how many clubs might take the government up on this level of funding?

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, we're thinking about 500, and I suspect – again, I suspect this to be heavily subscribed. I expect to get many bids. We'll have a process where people can put in their application. We'll work through the best ones. We'll fund the best ones. And then we'll have other rounds where people can have another go. And again, once we've spent that money, we'll assess how it's gone and see whether there's more to do.

All right, that sounds like enough on this announcement. So we'll excuse the cricket captain so he doesn't have to deal with matters of the day. Thanks, Pat.

Well, yesterday the government announced an achievable target for our country and a plan to get there. And as you'd expect with such an announcement, there's plenty of people who think it's too high, plenty of people who think it's too low, but it's an achievable, ambitious plan, one that's in the economic best interest of the country, as is clear the Treasury modelling and the CSIRO modelling, and it's the right plan for Australia. Happy to take questions.

JOURNALIST: Minister, the Climate Change Authority says you'll need to put a [inaudible]… double solar. Are you going to have to change the rules of how proponents consult communities?

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, we've already changed the rules about how proponents have to consult communities. We've already improved community consultation. There's always more to do. I want to see very genuine community consultation. It's not just about the big scale stuff, that's important. The smaller scale stuff, what's happening on household roofs and garages and driveways is very important to that journey as well.

JOURNALIST: But following that advice from the CCA?

CHRIS BOWEN: There's no particular advice that flows from that, but we'll always look at community consultation on how it can be done better.

JOURNALIST: So those questions related to that data we now have is when will the government get rid of the household and small business electricity subsidies and when will those cheaper electricity prices start to kick in?

CHRIS BOWEN: You're right to point to that modelling which is supported by the Treasury and CSIRO and others, that renewables are the cheapest form of energy, and the faster and better that gets rolled out the more we'll see that flow through. We're already seeing that flow through. I mean, today, 60,000 batteries will have been installed. That helps the people who have installed the batteries. For many of them, you know, almost completely removed their bill. But it helps everyone. You know, when you've got 60,000 fewer houses calling on the grid at night, that reduces peak demand and reduces costs for everyone.

Now, in relation to budget support, we've made clear we'll always calibrate that as we go, but the important thing from yesterday and today is renewables are the cheapest form of energy. The Treasury modelling in particular makes clear if you keep coal in the system for longer, that's the worst thing you could do for energy bills. That's not our approach, that's the approach of others.

JOURNALIST: But according to that data, so prices going down $1000 per year under that projection, so when will the subsidies be removed?

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, again, we'll always calibrate budget support in each budget cycle, and that's what we've done and we'll continue to do.

JOURNALIST: Do you have an estimate, a projection for when the prices will get cheaper over the decade?

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, I point you to the modelling, the AEMC modelling yesterday. That's not a political promise. It's a statement of modelling by expert agencies.

JOURNALIST: So is there an idea of when we won't need subsidies? When that money doesn't need to be used, that taxpayer money?

CHRIS BOWEN: Well again, we've already made decisions about subsidies and their levels at different points and that work will continue.

JOURNALIST: Can you name a figure?

CHRIS BOWEN: Of what?

JOURNALIST: Well, you know, in the election you said Peter Dutton's nuclear plan would cost $600 billion. Surely you've modelled your plan. What's the cost of those renewables? A 70 per cent cut by 2035. Can you name a figure?

CHRIS BOWEN: Yeah, $600 billion was the cost of Peter Dutton's plan. Yesterday we announced an $8.5 billion investment. That takes total government expenditure to around $75 billion, which is a lot less than $600 billion.

JOURNALIST: [Inaudible]… cost?

CHRIS BOWEN: That's the budget – what's been budgeted, yeah.

JOURNALIST: When do you expect energy prices will be cheaper under this plan?

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, again, you'll have a default market offer out in a few months. That will reflect how the market's going. What we'll see is continued impact. As I said, 60,000 people have reduced their bills by up to 90 per cent. That's just since 1 July. More to do, absolutely. We announced that plan yesterday.

JOURNALIST: Do you expect we'll always need to have subsidies in order to have cheaper prices?

CHRIS BOWEN: I think I’ve answered that question.

JOURNALIST: You'd be well aware that there's a significant pushback about renewables in the bush. You're now proposing to triple the amount and build more transmission lines. How will you win back people west of the Great Dividing Range?

CHRIS BOWEN: People west of the Great Dividing Range want action on climate change. They live it every day. They see climate change. They see farm profits falling. They see natural disasters increasing. Farmers get it. The National Party doesn't get it, but farmers get it. Now, yes, are there issues around making sure community consultation is fit for purpose? Yep. Are there issues about making sure communities genuinely benefit from the renewables in their region? Yes. But this idea that somehow people who live east of the Blue Mountains support action on climate change and people in the west oppose it, it's just not right. It's just not true. I know the National Party doesn't get it, but their communities get it. And they get that there's great benefits potentially from renewable energy. They get that it's got to be managed carefully. Not every proposal's in the right place at the right time, but that's what the planning system is for. But also, people in regional Australia, there's strong support for renewable energy.

JOURNALIST: Do you believe – just on that, do you believe consultation with our regional communities has been sufficient?

CHRIS BOWEN: I believe it needed to be improved, and it has been improved, and we'll continue to work on improving it. We are rolling out the developer rating scheme, for example. We commissioned Andrew Dyer, the former infrastructure commissioner, to look at community consultation. Tony Mahar, the current Infrastructure Commissioner, former chief executive of the Farmers’ Federation, whom I appointed to that job, is doing a great job ensuring that communities have a proper voice in this process.

JOURNALIST: [Inaudible question]

CHRIS BOWEN: We've made no decisions. What we are doing is developing a method to enable communities and industry to make their own decisions.

JOURNALIST: What will be the total cost of net zero by 2050?

CHRIS BOWEN: In terms of the budget, that's more than $75 billion that we've outlined. The total cost of not achieving net zero, as is outlined in the National Risk Assessment, is many times more than that. We've got a bit of noise coming in. I think that's a good wrap. Thanks, guys.