Interview with Leon Delaney, 2CC

LEON DELANEY: Assistant Minister for Energy and Climate Change Jenny McAllister is on the phone. Thanks for joining us today.

JENNY McALLISTER: Thank you for having me on, Leon.

LEON DELANEY: It's a pleasure. Thanks very much. Now this was something, if I'm not mistaken, was actually floated recently by the ACT Government said they were going to be pushing for this.

JENNY McALLISTER: A lot of people have been pushing for this and the previous government were really dragging [indistinct]. This is actually the first major change to the system for a decade and it really couldn't come soon enough. You know, a lot of Australians are really wasting a lot of money on energy that is literally leaking out of their homes and we need to do better.

LEON DELANEY: Okay, so what does it mean in practical terms to require a seven star standard? Because, I mean, originally five stars was the best and then all of a sudden we invented a sixth star, now we've invented another one.

JENNY McALLISTER: That's right. Well, the technology is improving all the time and a homeowner will have a range of options to meet the seven star benchmark. It might mean putting solar on your roof. It might mean using a higher quality of glazing. It might mean reorienting your home so that it faces – the windows face in a particular direction, quite flexible for the builder or the homeowner, the key is making sure that the energy performance is better, which makes it a more comfortable home to live in and over time will drive down bills.

LEON DELANEY: Okay, so how do you determine what a seven star house is? It needs to consume a particular level of energy consumption or how do you calculate it?

JENNY McALLISTER: Basically, the thermal performance of the home is given a rating and then a second rating is provided based on the performance of the major appliances in the home, like hot water, heating and cooling, pool and spa pumps, solar energy that's on battery storage. Most people organise that by stepping through a fairly straightforward digital tool that lets you input the kinds of materials you're using to build the home, input the kinds of appliances you're planning to use in the home, and the tool gives you an answer.

LEON DELANEY: Okay, so this increase to the minimum standard, or this change to the minimum standard, is that likely to result in increased construction costs for new homes?

JENNY McALLISTER: There may be some increased costs, particularly in the early phases, but industry has twelve months to adjust. And we know from just talking to some of the builders around the place that as traders and suppliers get used to the new standards, costs often go down. The main thing, of course, though, is that it means your house is consuming less energy and so over time, the savings that you make in your energy bill gives you the space to pay off any additional costs that you might experience upfront.

LEON DELANEY: Okay, so this shift from six stars to seven stars, what sort of practical impact is that anticipated or projected to have on greenhouse gas emissions levels?

JENNY McALLISTER: Well, one of the things it does, of course, it helps us make the transition to net zero more cheaply because it takes the pressure off the electricity system overall. If we're using less energy at home, but still maintaining a level of comfort and convenience, then we don't have to build as much new generation capacity and we don't have to build as many new poles and wires as we otherwise would have. So, one of the key impacts is it just makes our transition cheaper. Of course, the cheapest unit of energy is one that you don't use at all.

LEON DELANEY: Well, I guess that's probably right, but when it's cold in winter, I need to use something to keep warm, don't I?

JENNY McALLISTER: Exactly. And the goal here –

LEON DELANEY: I tell you. It gets pretty cold here in Canberra.

JENNY McALLISTER: It sure does, let me tell you. But convenience, comfort and affordability are the three things we're driving for here. We want people to live in comfortable homes, but the truth is that too many Australians live in homes where a lot of energy leaks out under the door, or in summertime, a lot of energy is used up by an inefficient appliance that's trying to cool the house down but using a lot of energy in the process. We want to make sure that as many Australians as possible are living comfortable homes at comfortable temperatures, but actually not using as much energy.

LEON DELANEY: Yeah. Now, obviously this applies to new constructions, but what about the existing stock of houses and apartments? There's a lot of people living in some pretty old houses and apartments that are not terribly energy efficient.

JENNY McALLISTER: You're right Leon. There are too many Australians living in homes that could do better. We're going to have to think about that nationally. This is an important first step, though. We build something in the order of 150,000 new dwellings each and every year for many decades to come. And we want to make sure that we take every opportunity to build into the highest quality that we can while maintaining affordability.

LEON DELANEY: Yeah. And while that sounds like a lot of new dwellings every year, it's only a very small proportion of the total housing stock. So, if you really want to make a difference, we need to do something about the existing properties, don't we?

JENNY McALLISTER: That's right. We are going to have to think about that over time. There are lots of opportunities for homeowners to make some changes in their own homes that will improve their energy performance. The states and territories around the country have been doing quite a bit of work over this on recent years, and many states will offer rebates or incentives for homeowners to make some of those improvements. One of the things I'm interested in is seeing whether we can get some coordinated information together to make it really simple for homeowners to work out what's going to work for them, work out what's cost effective and find a really reliable supplier.

LEON DELANEY: Indeed. Thanks very much for your time today.