Speech to Australian Council of Social Service – Fair, fast and inclusive climate action.

What a pleasure it is to be here. Can I also acknowledge the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people and pay my respects to their elders, past and present. 

Can I acknowledge too parliamentary colleagues. There is a broad range of people represented here and it’s always lovely to see you.

But thank you too for all the representatives of the community sector, who've made their way to Canberra this morning.

These partnerships are so important to us, and it is a pleasure to have you here in the building. You work every day advocating for all the people in our community who really depend on your advocacy – and on our government – to deliver for them.

No one held back, no one left behind. These principles are as relevant to this area of policy as they are to anything else that we do as a government.

So I'm really delighted to see the blueprint that you and the team have put together and are bringing forward today. Because there is no disadvantage that climate change doesn't make worse.

This blueprint sets out a range of ways and a range of areas where governments have an opportunity to make a difference to the lives of families and people who are doing it tough now, and whose needs we need to pay attention to when considering our policy choices.

I thought today what I could speak about is the work that I have been focused on since coming to government – energy performance in homes. It's an area where I've been able to work with you, Cass, from the very beginning, and also work with many others in the community sector.

ACOSS for those who don’t know were one of a small group who came to the government very early on in the term, advocating for energy upgrades to social housing. And of course, that was a strong case to make to a Labor Government. And it's personally something I’m very pleased that we were able to fund very early on in the government.

So in just five days, we will have a second round of bill relief commence for Australians households. That is a short term and necessary response to a global energy crisis. Overall, we have committed billions to reducing energy bills since coming to government through programs through consumer reform and through direct relief.

But the policy I wanted to speak about today was the $300 million investment that the Commonwealth has made in upgrading social housing with matched funding from state governments.

Just last week, we announced a $63.2 million partnership with West Australia to upgrade social housing. We’re doing upgrades in regional Australia, in Western Australia across the Kimberley, Pilbara and Gascoyne.

Anybody who has been to communities in this region, will know just how significant these upgrades will be for families. Many of them, indigenous families, families who are living in public housing. 

I want to draw attention to some of the things that we can do in older housing stock, because there's often a focus on technology. But the truth is that there are millions of homes across the country that were built well before minimum energy performance standards were in pace for housing, and who can benefit from much simpler technologies – things like whirlybirds and insulation.

These are simple improvements to housing that can make an enormous difference to their energy performance, and improve the effectiveness of the more recent technologies like solar and batteries when they are installed.  

These are some of the technologies that will be in focus for the work that we do in Western Australia, alongside draught proofing, switching to LED and more efficient hot water and refrigeration.

And of course, air conditioning can be life changing. Temperatures can be extreme in the west. In 2022, Australia matched its hottest ever reliably recorded temperature, with Onslow airport in this area registering 50.7C.

I'm particularly pleased with this program because not only is West Australian delivering those direct benefits. It's also building capacity in the infrastructure sector to deliver upgrades to social housing right across the state. This was one of the key points that ACOSS made to us about the added benefit of working in the social housing space.

Building capacity in governments and in the private sector to deliver these kinds of upgrades is vital. And getting delivery right is vital to build confidence so that we can do more. Some states and territories were further along this path, and I'm pleased to say that projects have already begun.

The ACT Government is delivering insulation to public housing. And anyone who has been in Canberra this week will know how significant that will be for families given how cool it has been. 

New South Wales is also delivering on pilots for solar and pilots for heat pumps roll outs. Part of over $200 million of investment in social housing upgrades and community solar banks.

Of course, our $1 billion investment into the Clean Energy Finance Corporation when we’re looking at the challenges are different to those for social housing, but equally important. Private sector supply chains, putting in place consumer and worker protections is essential to the success of this work.

We have to get that right too. Safety and consumer protections is vital, building the workforce is vital, and ensuring that consumers have choice and feel empowered is vital. So we worked last year to consult not just with the finance sector, but industry, to get program design right there too. It’s our obligation as a government to ensure that we build capacity and build confidence so we can continue to deliver. 

The beneficiaries of this $1 billion investment into the CEFC won’t just be the ones who directly benefit from the scheme. We expect this program to have the effect of maturing the commercial and industry supply chains that will be able to deliver on known benefits to a much wider range of households and families over time.

I think the final thing I wanted to say is that as a government, we are very conscious that this is a challenging program space to work in. It's an area that was entirely neglected for the ten years of Coalition Government. So we are building new capacity in our own government, in the private sector supply chains and also with our state government partners.

The challenges of delivering for renters and those in stratas and apartments are not simple to overcome. And they are challenges we’re very focused on and as the Treasurer said, we are considering options for more worker in this space.

But it's incredibly important opportunity, Cass, because it is a tangible way that Australians can take opportunity and see the benefits of climate action in their own lives, and it’s an opportunity to address the justice issues that your report calls out attention towards. 

Labor has always believed that government has a role to play in solving the big challenges of today, and improving the lives of every Australian. This is an area of policy where we can do both.

And we are very happy to work with any willing party that wants to engage with us and workable ideas. I acknowledge my parliamentary colleagues who have been so active in reaching out across the aisle on those questions. Can I thank everybody again for your willingness to be here this morning.