Residential battery scheme
198. Ms Sandra Brewerto theMinister for Energy and Decarbonisation:
I refer to the minister's announcement on 3 June that the state government will offer residential battery rebates of $1,300 for Synergy customers and $3,800 for Horizon Power customers.
(1) Will the minister confirm that the state government rebates are less than what was promised by Labor at the state election?
(2) Will the minister apologise to Synergy customers who expected a $5,000 rebate and Horizon Power customers who expected a $7,500 rebate from the state government?
Ms Amber-Jade Sanderson replied:
(1)–(2) I am happy to answer the question from the shadow Treasurer. The Cook Labor government and the Premier committed to delivering a $5,000 rebate for batteries, a $50 million package to support the battery manufacturing industry in WA, and a total package of $384 million to include a no-interest loan scheme. That is exactly what we are delivering. We are delivering $5,000 rebates, a no-interest loan scheme and a $50 million package to support the battery manufacturing sector.
199. Ms Sandra Brewerto theMinister for Energy and Decarbonisation:
I have a supplementary question. What other broken election policies can we expect from the Minister for Energy?
Ms Amber-Jade Sanderson replied:
When the federal government was elected, the Albanese government was re-elected. During its election campaign, the Albanese government made a very broad announcement around a battery rebate. The rebate for WA was that around 100,000 households would get $360. Ultimately, we had a choice to make. We could not work with the Commonwealth government, which is a hallmark of Liberal–National governments—they refuse to work with Canberra—or we could sit down with the federal government and make sure that the schemes were integrated and benefited more people. We had a choice to make, shadow Treasurer. We had a choice to make. We could allow 20,000 people to stack rebates and get a lot of rebate, and 80,000 people would get a much smaller rebate and a small number of people would access our no-interest loan scheme—particularly low- and medium-income households; or we could maintain our commitment to equity and access for low- and middle-income households and we could let 100,000 people access a rebate—100,000 people. Importantly, our scheme provides a no-interest loan scheme for low- and middle-income families. This is technology that has never been available to them before.
Several members interjected.
The Speaker: Members.
Several members interjected.
The Speaker: Ministers.
Ms Amber-Jade Sanderson: I understand why the Liberal Party, and the shadow Treasurer in particular, would think it is a good idea to give a small number of people a lot of money, and to make sure that most people do not get much money at all, because that is the principle that the Liberal Party is built on: that a small number of people—
Several members interjected.
The Speaker: Members of the opposition.
Several members interjected.
The Speaker: Members of the government. The minister has the call. Carry on, minister.
Ms Amber-Jade Sanderson: That is the principle that the Liberal Party is built on: that a small number of people benefit. That is not what the people on this side believe in. The Cook government is supporting 100,000 households to access a technology that they would not have been able to access before. There will be a fundamental shift in their household bills. These are the people who are struggling with their household bills. This is targeted support, targeted relief across 100,000 households, and it will stabilise the grid and enable more people—
Several members interjected.
Ms Amber-Jade Sanderson: The government side is the listening side, Mr Speaker. I say to my children, "You learn the most when you are not talking"—just a tip.
We had a choice to make and we chose to maintain our commitment of $5,000 to those households. We spread it to five times more people across 100,000 households, supporting low- and middle-income households to access a loan that will enable them to access technology that they have never been able to before.
