Press conference - Western Sydney, NSW

MINISTER FOR CLIMATE CHANGE AND ENERGY, CHRIS BOWEN: Well, it's great to be here in Western Sydney for this very, very important announcement. This is one of the world's largest trials of electric trucks, certainly Australia's largest. I'm very proud that Team Global Express is partnering with the Albanese Government, with ARENA on this very, very important initiative. These trucks are great for the climate. They're great for the drivers. They’re great for the customers and are great for the community. As a Western Sydney resident, I see many, many Team Global Express trucks driving for our community, these are world class trucks. Of course, emissions will be down. Running costs for Team Global Express will be down and driver satisfaction and customer satisfaction will be up.

Electric trucks are a very, very important part of Australia's future. We are way behind the rest of the world, way behind the game when it comes to electric vehicles. We have made good progress in our first 6 months in office. But we have much, much more to do. We have passed our electric vehicle tax cut through the Parliament. We have reduced the amount of sulfur in petrol and are currently consulting about euro 6 standards. And of course, we have the National Electric Vehicle strategy out for consultation. So we haven't wasted a second when it comes to electric vehicles. But electric trucks are a very important part of the mix going forward. And for Team Global Express, one of Australia's largest logistics companies, to be making this significant investment is a great thing. And I'm very pleased on behalf of the Albanese Government to partner through ARENA for this very big investment. I’ll ask Christine and Darren to add, then we’ll answer questions about this. Then, as I said, I'll answer questions about news of the day. Christine.

CHRISTINE HOLGATE, CEO TEAM GLOBAL EXPRESS: Thank you, Minister. I’m incredibly proud to be standing here today to be talking about this trial. It’s going to involve; it is the single largest trial in Australia. And I'm told by the group CEO of Volvo, that it is the largest trial in the world. It's certainly the largest order for Volvo and Daimler for this type of vehicle. And for us, it's just such an important milestone for our country, for industry and for our people. 17 percent of all carbon emissions in this country are actually generated from heavy transport. And if we don’t in industry, don't face into that and don't partner, we cannot help that pathway to net zero. So, we're absolutely committed to doing it. I feel very humble that ARENA have chosen us to be the partner to make this become a reality. It's a $44 million investment, $20 million has come from a grant from ARENA. And it's just such an exciting time. But Bungarribee here was chosen for its strategic location, and the quality and the expertise of our people. So, I’m just so excited to get going to be honest, I can’t stop smiling. But I’ll pass to Darren. Thank you.

DARREN MILLER, CEO ARENA: Thanks Christine. It's very exciting. On behalf of ARENA to be here today. ARENA has a key, one of our key strategic priorities is supporting the transition to low emissions, electric vehicles and hydrogen vehicles and to help our transport sector. We've been at it for a number of years now, have invested over $100 million. This is our first significant trial of commercial operations at this scale. Getting into those heavier vehicles is crucially important if we’re to reduce emissions in line with the 43 percent target by 2030 and onwards to net zero by 2050. It's extremely important that the likes of industry, Christine and her company and ARENA, the federal government have come together to support this trial. And ARENA has been entrusted as a key delivery agency of the Driving the Nation fund. And thank you to the Minister for his support for our agency. We're very committed to the work we're doing and great success in the future.

CHRIS BOWEN: Ok, any questions about today’s announcement?

JOURNALIST: Christine, how many trucks does your company have, and how long do you reckon it will take to transition to mostly or all electric?

CHRISTINE HOLGATE: We've got 6,500 directly ourselves and this is the first 60.  The challenge is, is that nobody has ever really done a trial like this in the world. It is a trial. So first of all, we've got to get the trial going. So we'll take this in years. But unless you take the first step, you're never going to get to the top of the mountain. And nobody else has done it. It is expensive. We couldn't have done it without ARENA, but it's really important first step.

JOURNALIST: Just wondering if I can ask the same question of the Minister. Minister, countries have set used by dates for electric vehicles. 2025 in the case of Norway, 2030 in some other countries, 2035 in others. Would Australia ever set a used by date for electric vehicles?

CHRIS BOWEN: No, but what we are doing, what we are doing is working very carefully through our National Electric Vehicle Strategy. As you know, I'm sure you read the consultation paper, you might have even put in a submission yourself, I hope you did. I'll be reading all of those. Obviously, we have flagged the importance of fuel efficiency standards. We are with Russia, the only developed country without fuel efficiency standards, which means manufacturers are not obliged to send fuel efficient vehicles to Australia. So we're having that conversation with the Australian people. That is, that is the focus of our work, as I said, the Parliament has passed the electric vehicle tax cut, we are funding Driving the Nation, one charger every 150 kilometres on our highways, we're working through the fuel efficiency standards piece through the National Electric Vehicle Strategy. This is in the first 6 months, we have much, much more to do in the next two and a half years.

JOURNALIST: Minister Bowen, do you envisage more incentives to potentially get older trucks off the road and replace them with cleaner trucks to reach net zero emissions?

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, as I said, there's a lot of good submissions to our National Electric Vehicle Strategy, which is about light and heavy vehicles. We will work those through very carefully. Obviously, I think fuel efficiency standards is a key discussion for the government and the country to be having, which we are doing. And I would also point out that the incentives we have in place through our electric vehicle tax cut, together with state incentives, who already provide substantial incentives towards electric vehicle take up. I've seen figures to show that with our fringe benefits tax concession, in some instances, electric vehicles are cheaper than internal combustion engines for employers to provide. That's a bit of a kick. But of course, there's always going to be more to do. Anything else on today’s announcement

JOURNALIST: (inaudible) How quickly do you think it will become economic so these solutions won’t require such large funding?

DARREN MILLER: We're in a global race here with EV manufacturing scaling up throughout the world. So I think we are reliant on that industry scaling up and being in the supply chain for these vehicles. As the Minister said, it's very important, we have the right incentives in place to show the global market we are a place that electric vehicles should come. I think that one of the CEOs of one of the companies said that these are the worst electric vehicles we'll ever see because every time a new one comes out, they get better and better. So we have hope that batteries get lighter, distances get further, the costs come down. But very importantly, in total cost of ownership for a project like this crucial. It's not just the upfront cost. It's how do you integrate it and operate this efficiently, more economically with an equivalent diesel vehicle and that's what we hope to learn from this project.

CHRIS BOWEN: Alright, I’m going to take questions on matters of the day.

JOURNALIST: When do you expect to have the Energy Ministers Meeting given the bosses’ bug?

CHRIS BOWEN: The bosses bug impacts National Cabinet, which will now be held on Friday. Energy ministers will proceed as normal on Thursday in Brisbane, which I'm very much looking forward to. We have a lot of work to do with energy ministers. Of course, the main discussion about energy prices will occur on Thursday, but energy ministers are at work. I'm working with the Prime Minister, respective energy ministers are working with their leaders in preparation for Friday.

I do want to say I note that the Deputy Leader of the Opposition said the meeting should occur on Wednesday, even though the Prime Minister is sick. I thought that was a pretty ridiculous thing to say. Pretty graceless. I think people understand that an important meeting like the National Cabinet should occur when the Prime Minister's fit and well, if the Prime Minister is not up to it on Wednesday, because he has COVID. I mean, it's not just about isolation. COVID is a disease which has an impact. The Prime Minister's got it. I think it was pretty low rent for the opposition to make cheap political points.

JOURNALIST: Has a plan been finalised?

CHRIS BOWEN: Ongoing discussions with premiers as you would imagine, on a very important matter. I make this point, the Albanese Government will not stand by and watch the impacts of Russia's war just flow through to Australian industry and consumers. We have been and will continue to work through all the implications. And we will continue to discuss options with Premiers in relation to coal in particular. And we'll continue to do that in the lead up to Friday's meeting.

JOURNALIST: When can states expect to see this plan?

CHRIS BOWEN: The Prime Minister’s had a series of discussions with his state counterparts, and there'll be ongoing.

JOURNALIST: So will you be presenting a plan on Thursday with state energy ministers?

CHRIS BOWEN: I'll be discussing a lot of things we state energy ministers on Thursday, including an important update on capacity for renewable energy in particular. But of course we'll be discussing energy prices, of course we will be. But people should expect the National Cabinet be the key focus on the energy price discussion.

JOURNALIST: There's been a big push from some of the coal generators for payments to ensure that they can stay around longer in the grid if need be. What's your view on that request? And what sort of mechanism are you proposing?

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, I'll be discussing, with all due respect, Charles. I’ll be discussing capacity mechanism with energy ministers before discussing with journalists, regardless of how good that journalist is, energy ministers come first.

JOURNALIST: Are you worried that subsidising the cost of fossil fuels as proposed by the Prime Minister has made to Labor’s transition to renewables…

CHRIS BOWEN: No, I think Australians understand the Government has a short-term imperative, and a longer-term mission. Short-term imperative is in nobody's best interest, nobody's best interest to see Australian industries under pressure from rising energy prices, see industries potentially close through no fault of their own, because gas and coal are so much more expensive than it was just last December. That's in no one's best interest. So that needs to be dealt with in the short term. In no way does that in any way deviate the Government from its medium- and long-term agenda of a renewable energy revolution. We need to do all the above. And in fact, contrary’s the case, this crisis is caused by coal and gas prices. Anybody who says it’s caused by renewables is lying. And that needs to be called out. Renewables are the solution to this crisis, not the cause. And the Government is not deviating for one moment from our agenda of 82 percent renewables in the grid by 2030. And a whole range of other measures on the way to get there as part of our 43 percent emissions reduction. But in coming weeks and months, with coal and gas putting such pressure on energy prices, of course, just as Governments around the world, including Governments committed to strong climate action have had to act. Of course, the Australian Government will contemplate necessary, carefully designed short term and temporary interventions.

JOURNALIST: How confident are you that the premiers will be on board?

CHRIS BOWEN: I'm very confident that the Premiers are considering what is in the best interest of the nation and their states and entering in good faith dialogue with the Prime Minister, as the energy ministers with me and at various levels across the government. Okay. Thank you.