Press conference with WA Deputy Premier Rita Saffioti at Karrinyup, Perth, Western Australia

DEPUTY PREMIER OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA RITA SAFFIOTI: It's great to be here with the Federal Climate Change and Energy Assistant Minister Josh Wilson, and of course Scarborough MLA Stuart Aubrey to announce another key milestone in the electrification of our bus fleet. We're really proud with the progress we're making in putting more electric busses on the road. We're replacing the diesel busses with electric busses, and it's a program that so far has gone very, very well. We're producing 11 electric busses a month.

We are no longer producing diesel busses in WA. And when you're on the roads, you can see our new electric busses moving quietly and smoothly around our streets. Now, as part of the whole program, not only do we have to produce the busses, of course, you have to install the charging infrastructure, and we've been doing that throughout the suburbs. We started with Elizabeth Quay. Sorry, first of all, we started our trial up at Joondalup for the Joondalup CAT service.

We've then moved to Elizabeth Quay, the EQ bus station, where we installed 18 chargers. We then moved to Malaga, where we installed chargers to be able to serve 90 busses. And here in Karrinyup, we've completed the charging infrastructure that allows us to charge 110 busses on site-an incredible program.

This is just talking to the team who've installed the charging infrastructure, the biggest program that they've done across the nation. As I said, this Karrinyup bus station will be able to charge up to 110 busses. It has capacity to deliver bus services not only through this Karrinyup region, but through to Fremantle to Ballajura. And there's about 200 bus drivers that are stationed here in Karrinyup.

As I said, as part of the upgrades to this depot. We've also upgraded other facilities across the depot to make it easier for bus drivers to operate in this area. So, as we said, the Karrinyup Depot upgrades has EV charging infrastructure, the reconstruction of the depot yard, lighting upgrades, and further CCTV and refurbishment of driver and staff facilities, As we said, this is a big program.

This is a long program to replace all of our diesel busses across the network with electric busses. We're in Malaga producing the busses every month, and then we put them out on the streets. And of course, as part of that program, we're systematically upgrading the depots. We'll be moving on to the other depots.

The rest of the depots to be upgraded, with both with Bayswater and Jandakot being the next ones who will have the electricity infrastructure in place, the charging infrastructure in place to support the rollout of these busses. The feedback from the community has been excellent. The feedback from the drivers has also been really strong about our new electric busses. Of course, they save emissions, save greenhouse emissions. They are actually also lower cost to run as well. So, the operating cost of these busses is much lower.

So over time, they do deliver savings to government too, so that's another key strong point. Yes, electric busses cost more in the initial phase, but over their operating life between 18 and 20 years, they actually deliver savings to the taxpayers as well. So, it makes a lot of sense, both on an environmental sense, also on a financial sense, saving money and saving emissions. And can I also now introduce Josh to speak. Of course, there's an initial partnership with the federal government, a $250 million partnership, that we worked with the Albanese Government to help establish this program. And I invite Josh to speak.

ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR CLIMATE CHANGE AND ENERGY JOSH WILSON: Thanks, Rita. It's great to be here with the Deputy Premier and with Stuart, the local state member. It's a really important milestone, and the Albanese government is very, very glad to work in partnership with the WA government in carrying Western Australia towards a cleaner and cheaper energy future.

And really, when you think about it, how good will it be in future when Western Australians can take public transport that is made here in Western Australia, run by energy that is made here in Western Australia, a cleaner and cheaper transport energy future as part of that broader energy transition that we've embarked upon, which should be the basis of Australian life in the 21st century, a cleaner and cheaper energy future – a future made in Australia – and we have put $125 million in total to the charging infrastructure part of the project, supporting those electric busses that are made in Malaga. And it's part of our focus on the energy transition that is transport specific.

We've made great strides when it comes to our stationary energy circumstances, increasing renewable energy by more than 60%, seeing remarkable strides when it comes to the deployment of battery technology. Australia now effectively the world leader in the deployment of batteries on a per capita basis, but we want to carry that into the transport sector. We know transport is responsible for about 22% of Australia's emissions, and we've experienced this year what can happen when we have a global fuel security crisis with respect to our ability to be in control of our transport destiny.

So, this project, the commitment that the Albanese Government's making to the charging infrastructure part in partnership with the WA government and their very forward-leaning work in delivering electrified transport for the Western Australian public is going to mean benefits of pretty much every kind: cleaner air, fewer diesel particulate emissions, lower emissions generally, if you think about greenhouse gasses, those cheaper operational costs that the deputy premier mentioned, but importantly, our own energy security, our ability to operate key transport, obviously public transport, increasingly passenger vehicles, and the work we're trying to do also in freight so that in the future Australia is less reliant on imported liquid fuels, more self-sufficient, more self-reliant, generating our own energy from the world's best solar and wind resources, and powering our lives in a way that is cleaner and cheaper, and is based on a future made in Australia.

Over the life of the Albanese Government since 2022, we've seen big strides. We were already well on the way in that broader energy transition. We were well on the way to being the world leader when it comes to distributed household solar energy. But we were lagging when it came to transport. The coalition government over nine years had no interest in the electrification of transport. They said all sorts of silly things about how electric vehicles ruin the weekend and so on and so forth. Well, we've turned that on its head. In 2022, only one in 50 new vehicles purchased was an EV. It's now one in four, and we are seeing the benefits of that because Australians that are able to make that choice, thanks to the vehicle emission standards that we brought in, with a tripling of models available, including many cheaper models, that means that Australians can have transport options that are not dependent on liquid fuel that's imported, with the volatility around those prices, particularly when you have a war in the Middle East, and we want to see that continue in every part of the transport sector.

What the West Australian government is doing when it comes to electric busses is really remarkable sort of effort to create the kind of future that Western Australians expect: a cleaner and cheaper future, a future made in Western Australia as we make progress to being not just a renewable energy superpower, but a clean industry powerhouse. Thanks.

REPORTER: How long does it take to charge one of the busses, and how far can they go on a full charge?

SAFFIOTI: In relation to charging, I might need to get further advice, but four hours to charge, typically, and they've all moved in. Is it four hours? About four hours, yes. So typically, a bus will run about 300 kilometres on a charge, and they take about four hours to charge. But of course, it also depends on the service.

So as part of the testing initially, in particular at the Joondalup CAT when we were trialling the busses for Joondalup CAT air conditioning, the impact of air conditioning on drawing on power, and also the hills as well, type of service. So, it will typically vary. As you can see, the initial runs are very much on the flats, but as we move into the hills as well, there'll be other factors to take into consideration. But more generally, about four hours to charge and about 300 kilometres per charge.

REPORTER: How long does it take to assemble them here in Malaga?

SAFFIOTI: Well, we do about 11 a month, so that's how much we're producing every month. So basically, it's a partnership with Volvo and Volgren. So Volgren, based here in WA, and what we do is Volvo sends in through the chassis, and then we basically manufacture the busses around that. More recently, we just assembled the first electric articulated bus, bendy bus, in the nation, and again that has different configurations when you're looking about the amount of power you need to help deliver and to run those busses. The first articulated, or bendy electric bus, will run from this depot in September.

REPORTER: How long will it take to move to a full electric fleet?

SAFFIOTI: It will take about 18 years before we move to a full for the whole because we what we're doing is we're replacing the diesels, the older diesels. So typically a bus has a life between 18 to 20 years as the diesels are retired they get replaced with the electric busses.

Of course, one of the other factors to take into consideration with electric busses is replacing the batteries, and that's factored in to the cost of the project. And that is around half of its life. But the batteries which sit on top will need to be replaced. And as battery technology gets better and better, we assume that then the next set of batteries that will be installed on these busses will have even better charging and a better service length than the current ones.

REPORTER: [inaudible]

SAFFIOTI: No, $250 [million] is just the partnership between the state and the Albanese Government. There's over $600 million in the forward estimates for our bus replacement program. There's always been a bus replacement program, but what we're doing, of course, is now replacing all the existing diesel with electric.

As I said, over time, what will happen is the operating costs and the operating subsidy will start to fall because the cost of operating an electric bus is cheaper than a diesel bus. But those savings are realized over time. So, over the 18 to 20 years, what you start seeing is some real savings in the operating side. But currently, of course, is the cost side because we're paying more for an electric bus than a diesel bus.

REPORTER: How much is the saving [inaudible]

SAFFIOTI: SO it's about a million dollars per bus over the life of the service of a bus over 20 years. So, what happens initially is, of course, an electric bus costs more than a diesel bus, about $400,000 more. So, it's a higher upfront cost. But then you've got all these operational savings.

So, as I said, at the end, or as we progressively go, you start seeing those operating savings increase. But currently, it's really in that cost phase, and that's why we welcome the contribution of the federal government. One of the other issues, and this is something we've avoided, some of the pitfalls from other states is where they fully imported electric busses, initially, and they had electric busses sitting around yards waiting for the charging infrastructure. We haven't done that. We've had a made in WA strategy.

We've converted our Malaga depot to be a depot that produces and manufactures electric busses. We've got a lot of apprentices working in that depot, and of course, this type of technology, this type of trade, is very important for young people for the future as we have increased electrification of the transport network. So, we've got this program, and what we're doing is working through our transport network, is upgrading the charging infrastructure, delivering the electric busses, making sure we do it systematically. So, the electric busses are working from the depots where we've got the charging infrastructure, and we continue to do with that. Do that, as I said, we've got Jandakot and Bayswater as the next two depots.

REPORTER: Do you know approximately how many diesel busses we currently have in the state operating that need to be phased out?

SAFFIOTI: 1,600.

REPORTER: Relating to emissions reduction, so there's still no plans for a 2030 target in the state?

SAFFIOTI: We're working really, really hard in relation to our energy transformation. So not only as Josh said, in relation to transport, but also in our in our energy mix to fuel the SWIS. So, we continue to again support solar panels on roofs. We've got our battery incentive working with the federal government, which is really starting to see some incredible impact in relation to the ability to both generate and store on site. I think, as part of the entire plan, our extensive work that we're doing, both in delivering the transmission upgrades, Clean Energy Link North, our commitment to facilitate and support new renewable projects throughout the southwest and through the wheatbelt, our installation of the bigger batteries, plus on many days we're seeing significant contribution to the network from renewable energy. My view, it's always about what are you doing? Are you delivering? And I say, if you look around and look at what we're doing in relation to our energy mix, it is groundbreaking and it's starting to be noticed around the world.

REPORTER: So, all other states have got a 2030 target, but you just don't think it's necessary here?

SAFFIOTI: Well, I think the proof is in our delivery, and the other point is, in relation to the other states, they're in an interconnected grid as well. So, it's a little bit difficult, I think, sometimes in relation to one state saying that they're completely renewable when they're drawing power from other states who may not be like that. So, we're an isolated grid, and so what we've got to make sure is not only are we supporting more renewables, but that we have the backup to ensure that if there is times that we need additional power, that we can get that it makes sense.

And my view is it's always about delivery. It's always about what are you doing on the ground, whether it's how we support every household to become more energy independent with solar and battery, whether it's installing the bigger batteries to allow for that storage, whether it's supporting wind farms and solar farms, we're doing a lot of work.

And of course, in the northwest, where we have significant emissions from power generation, we're working with the resources sector as part of a national issue. This is the support to help the northwest, in particular, move more into renewables will be a big part of achieving some of the national targets.

REPORTER: The construction contract [inaudible] is $12.3 million. Is this still on budget?

SAFFIOTI: Yes.

REPORTER: [inaudible] Secret Harbour …. it’s seen as potentially a really hard one to contest because of the ON rise. How do you see the fight in Secret Harbour

SAFFIOTI: Look, by elections are always tricky because there's always a lot of candidates, as my recollection. There's always a lot more candidates than a normal election. There is other factors that come to play, so they're always hard work. We're really proud of delivering a strong, sensible government that has delivered on many parts of the community wishes. But in particular, our focus on cost-of-living support, currently we have over 700,000 people who have accessed the $100 fuel payment. The student assistance payment comes available on Monday.

That's $250 for every secondary student, $150 for every primary and kindergarten student. But we always know that by-elections are hard. They're hard work. They're a hard slog. We will, of course, with Georgia Tree we've got an excellent candidate. We believe we have the policies that will continue to drive opportunities and also the state economy. I think the other side-they're all protest votes. They're just protest votes.

They’re not offering new policies. We've seen a Liberal Party who's been in opposition now for nine years and really have zero policies for the people of Secret Harbor. We've seen this, you know, honestly a strange deal where basically the leader of the opposition has already given up, basically given up, and said that a win for One Nation is a win for the Liberal Party, which is quite strange, to be honest. And for him to have given up three weeks ago or four weeks ago when he gave that speech shows, I think, a Liberal Party that's not ready to fight for Western Australians.

REPORTER: How strong do you see, I mean, Pauline Hanson will be here next week. They’ve made it clear that they want to have a decent crack at Secret Harbor. How strong of a threat is One Nation to this result?

SAFFIOTI: Well, I think you have. It's really a Liberal Party-One Nation coalition now. That's what's happened. So, like I said by-elections always hard work. They're tough. But as I said, we believe we've got the candidate, we've got the policies, and as the premier's outlined in relation to the candidate, you want a candidate that's part of a government that's able to help influence government decisions into the future.

So, we really believe we have an incredible record on delivering on key services to the community: opportunities, economic growth, financial responsibility. Plus, we've got the policies moving into the future, whether it's health, big commitments, for example, in relation to the Mandurah Hospital, whether it's transport commitments to continuing deliver road expansions, like along the Kwinana Freeway, whether it's cost of living support, $100 for the fuel payment that's out there today.

I mean, remember people were saying that the public weren't supporting a fuel payment. 700,000 people have claimed already. The student assistance payment coming out next week, so we've got a whole range of policies that will continue to present to the community.

REPORTER: Georgia lives in Perth at the moment. I know she was educated and grew up in Warnbro. What's your take? She lives in Perth.

SAFFIOTI: She's got a strong connection to the community. If she was to be successful, I know that she'll be fighting every day for the people of Secret Harbour. Now, the electorate of Secret Harbour is a collection of different suburbs. They've moved from electorate to electorate.

Some are, in a sense, Mandurah connected. Some are Rockingham connected. It's a very sophisticated electorate. But I know Georgia, with her connection to that area, has a huge ability to help support and deliver more services and more infrastructure to that area.

REPORTER: The Nationals also might run as well. You think they’re going to prefer One Nation?

SAFFIOTI: Look, as I said, given that the Liberal Party in One Nation seemed to have done a deal, it's going to be interesting to see how the National Party plays into that. But as I said, by-elections are always every by-election is unique, and the amount of parties that run, the issues that are at play are sometimes very different than a normal state election. That's been my experience in relation to by-elections.

REPORTER: Tough fight.

SAFFIOTI: Every election's tough.

REPORTER: On another topic, the Liberal Party says the whole of system plan in regard to energy was required by September 2025, and that this latest name change is a distraction. What would you say to that?

SAFFIOTI: I'd say just look around. Our energy transformation is underway and delivering. As I said, it's all about delivery. It's all about what's happening. We're supporting the extension and expansion of the grid to support facilitating connecting into new renewables. We've injected into the system household batteries and the bigger batteries. We're supporting the transformation of our entire system. Look out there. What we're doing is we're transforming the energy system in an affordable and also in an efficient way. That is something that we're able to do because we're an isolated grid. But it also presents more challenges. We're out there delivering, and again, the Liberal Party's been all over the place in relation to power. I'm not sure what they stand for anymore.

REPORTER: The Commonwealth has lifted the Smartraveller warning to Laos, obviously in light of the poisoning of the two teenagers. Penny Wong stated that she's deeply frustrated by that investigation, so what specific levers are there that the Albanese Government can pull, whether it's reviewing foreign aid or something else, to pressure the Laotian government to deliver real justice?

WILSON: Well, as you've acknowledged, we've made it clear as a government that the response to date isn't appropriate, considering the gravity of what happened in Laos, six people lost their lives, including two young Australians. We 100% support those families, and we 100% share their acute disappointment in the lack of a serious response in terms of making sure that someone is held responsible for what was an awful, awful failure.

Now we've made that very clear. The Foreign Minister has said that, we've obviously sent special envoy to make that clear, and we've expressed it to the Laotian ambassador here in Australia. The Smartraveller alteration that you mentioned reflects that. I mean, it's difficult for people to have confidence around safety when, in the first instance, you have such a terrible outcome, and then the response is insufficient.

REPORTER: Southeast Asia is a primary destination for people for West Australians, young West Australians. What's your message to parents and school leavers who might be traveling to that part of the world following this elevated smart travel warning?

WILSON: Well, we encourage Australians to make use of the resources that Smartraveler represents to you know to travel on an informed basis and to take due care in relation to kind of risks that exist out there in the world and those things do change. I think that the nature of this incident sort of speaks for itself. It was such an awful thing for those two young women and their families, and there wouldn't be anyone in Australia who's, I think, unaware of what occurred and who doesn't feel enormous sympathy with those families as a result.

Needless to say, when something like that occurs, I think everybody reflects on the way that you should take care of yourself out there in the world. We are an outward-looking nation. We are a nation that loves to engage with the world, particularly in our region, and I think we all recognize that that's a good thing, but we should do it on an informed and careful basis. And Smartraveler is a great resource for people to take heed of in making those choices.

REPORTER: Just on those families you mentioned, DFAT recently had to apologise to those families for failing to keep them informed about the legal proceedings. Do you know of any sort of systemic updates that have been put in place to make sure Australians in those sorts of crises are properly updated?

WILSON: I'm not, and that's a serious and fair question. I don't want to sort of shoot from the hip on an area that I'm not responsible for ministerially. I think you've described it well, and to the extent that DFAT reflects on that, that would seem to be appropriate. Obviously, we always want to make sure that we can support Australians before they travel, whilst they're traveling, and in relation to these events. And so, reflecting on something that hasn't been good enough and making it better is a is a fair way to approach it. But I don't have all the details on it, and I don't want to just speculate about that.

REPORTER: Do you think violence is okay during a sporting match, and have you personally apologised to the person you hit?

WILSON: I have personally apologised. That was covered widely in the media. My conduct in the football game in question was unacceptable. That's why there are rules around sport that involves in-game penalties. In my case, receiving a red card and then suspension. It's not an appropriate way to respond. I've said that from the outset. It's the first time in probably 35 years playing football that I've received a red card like that.

I take that with the with the gravity that you would expect, it's not acceptable. I apologised at the earliest time in the best available way by asking the UWA guys who came back to our club rooms for a beer after the game to apologise to their teammate who didn't come back for a beer, and then I subsequently apologised directly when I became aware that he may not have received that that apology, but as I say, you know there are certain things that occur in sport that aren't acceptable. That's why all sports have those both in-game processes and disciplinary processes.

And I have 100% accepted that and my responsibility for conducting myself or responding in a way that you don't want to see on a football field.

REPORTER: Pauline Hanson is going to come to Perth on Tuesday given that she has said quite a bit of comment in the UK do you expect her to turn up the heat when she comes to Perth?

WILSON: Look, I wouldn't want to speculate about Pauline Hanson, what she may or may not do, I think you know that's really something that you should put to her, and I guess that we'll see in the fullness of time. I mean, one thing that's clear, as the Deputy Premier said, is that there are difficult circumstances in Australia, cost of living pressures, climate change concerns that we've discussed this morning about conflict in the wider world, they require serious solutions.

They require governments that are prepared to look at those problems and respond to them in a serious way that delivers real outcomes. That's not something that One Nation has ever done. That's not the game they are in. They are in the game of fostering division. They are in the game of pointing the finger and trying to promote prejudice and find villains within our own community that they can blame, really to cover for the fact that they themselves aren't prepared to do the hard work of coming up with the solutions that Australians need, whether that's cost of living relief, tax changes, the excise relief that we've provided, the things that we're talking about today.

You know, Australia's energy future in a responsible way, cleaner and cheaper energy, energy policies, programs, and outcomes that recognise the climate reality, that recognise the fuel insecurity reality, that recognise the cost pressure reality. That's what serious representatives do. That's what serious governments do. That's something that One Nation has never, ever, ever, ever done.