Press conference in Western Sydney, NSW

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, Australia leads the world in rooftop solar, and today we are attending the 4 millionth solar installation in Australia, which is a milestone for Australia's solar industry and a milestone for Australia's energy consumers. 4 million solar installations right across Australia's residential rooftops.

That means that solar energy on our rooftops is in many ways our most important form of energy in our national energy market. And it means that consumers across Australia not only are reducing their emissions but reducing their bills. And we want to put them even more in charge of their energy future with our Consumer Energy Roadmap, and last weekend I announced a big step forward for that with the approval of vehicle-to-grid charging by Standards Australia. But we've got a lot more to do. We've got to help families further reduce their cost of living with solar panels and batteries and continue to put them in charge of their energy resources future, which we're doing in consultation and collaboration with the states and territories through the Consumer Energy Roadmap.

I want to congratulate the industry, represented today here by both the Smart Energy Council and the Clean Energy Council, who worked with governments to get this job done across Australia. This is a good day to celebrate Australia's world-leading rooftop solar. I have Ministers from around the world say, how does Australia do it? How can you get this done? Including the United States and other countries. So, how could you possibly have got this done? Well, it was the previous Labor government's Renewable Energy Target, which is still in place, which drives a lot of this. And now it's this new Labor government refreshing and updating our approach through our Consumer Energy Roadmap, our Capacity Investment Scheme and other things which are getting us on track for 82 percent renewables. The Clean Energy Council released figures just last week showing a huge surge in renewable energy investment which shows us if we keep this up, we will meet our 82 percent target. There's been plenty of doubters, plenty of people saying it can't happen, won't happen. We always knew it could happen and it will happen with the right policy settings.

Now I'm going to ask Richard, who's the lucky 4 millionth householder, together with Simone, to say a few words and maybe share a bit of his own journey. Then I'm going to ask Kane on behalf of the Clean Energy Council to say a few words, and Leigh on behalf of the Smart Energy Council to say a few words, and then we're going to cut a cake. So, Richard.

SIMONE VAGG: We installed solar because it was the right thing to do, but also to save our money in the long term.

RICHARD VAGG: It's about being, I guess, energy sufficient. So, we've sort of oversized our system so that we will cope with even a day like today, a bit overcast, even through a winter's day. And we've got a sort of a modest battery to sort of supplement that. And we would hope to be a net exporter in energy, in essence.

CHRIS BOWEN: Great, perfect. Thank you. Kane?

KANE THORNTON: Thank you. Yeah, my name is Kane Thornton. I'm the Chief Executive of the Clean Energy Council. Firstly, can I say congratulations to Richard and Simone. The 4 millionth rooftop solar installation.

This is an incredible day for Australia. 4 million installations of rooftop solar. Australia is a world leader on rooftop solar, with over 4 million installations helping average Australians save over $1,500 on average from their power bill every single year. And when you tally that up, that equates to over $6 billion worth of savings in electricity bills for homes and small businesses right across the country every single year. This is an extraordinary achievement for Australia by Australian householders who are really now doing the heavy lifting as far as shifting Australia away from fossil fuels towards renewable energy. Rooftop solar now produces more electricity in this country every year than coal-fired power does every year, and that will only continue year on year because more and more Australians are seeing the opportunity to reduce their power bill, take control of their electricity and put rooftop solar on the roof of their house.

This has only been possible because of an extraordinary 15,000 individuals who work in the solar industry across this country. They're on roofs of houses every day, rain, hail or shine, installing these rooftop solar systems for Australian households. It's creating an enormous number of jobs, thousands of small businesses right around the country driving the deployment of rooftop solar, driving the energy transition here in Australia, and ensuring that Australia remains a world leader in rooftop solar. So, what a fantastic – what a fantastic day.

CHRIS BOWEN: Thanks, Leigh.

LEIGH HEANEY: My name is Leigh Heaney. I'm the NSW manager of the Smart Energy Council. Well, the Smart Energy Council is here today to congratulate the Federal Government and particularly Minister Bowen for their continued support for Aussie homes – Aussie homeowners looking to save money on their energy bills through the take up of great consumer energy products like rooftop solar. 4 million households, almost a third of all Australian dwellings, have taken up the opportunity to reduce their energy bills each and every day through the take up of great products like rooftop solar.

Our great members, great member businesses, have been out putting these products on rooftops for many, many years and we will now see the fruits of that really great hard work. It's something that all Australians should be proud of. We're a world leader in this space. What we know is that if you put rooftop solar on your roof today, you will save money on your energy bills tomorrow.

CHRIS BOWEN: Okay. Now to cut the cake.