My question is directed to the Premier. Many families on the northern beaches, and indeed across the State, are looking for ways to reduce energy bills while making their homes more comfortable and sustainable. Will the Premier inform the House how the Government's recently announced Home Energy Saver program is making energy efficiency upgrades more affordable and accessible through interest-free loans?
Read the Premier's response in the NSW Hansard here, or as pasted below.
Mr CHRIS MINNS ( Kogarah—Premier) (12:10): I thank the member for Wakehurst for his question. It is an important one for renewable energy in New South Wales, and the program is an important cost-of-living measure. For those who are able to purchase renewable energy—solar panels and batteries—for their house, it can significantly reduce pressure on household budgets. Those with means have been able to take advantage of that, largely as a result of having enough capital for the up-front costs of purchasing solar panels for the roof and the battery at the same time. But New South Wales families who are not on higher incomes have been locked out of that potentially huge saving.
As a result of the advocacy of the member for Wakehurst and other MPs, the New South Wales Government announced a $557 million Home Energy Saver program. The program provides zero-interest loans of up to $15,000, allowing households to invest in upgrades and pay them back over time. It also includes targeted discounts of up to $4,000 for lower income households, including for renters. I know that this means purchasing energy-saving upgrades like solar panels, batteries, water heaters, double glazing and draught-proofing, which can all ease the pressure on energy prices for New South Wales consumers. The Government made a decision that it would be means tested—a combined income of over $200,000, I think. I cannot quite remember the exact number. We believe that is a necessary condition to ensure that the resources are going to working families who may not have had the up-front capital to purchase the solar panels or the batteries but need it.
In New South Wales 50 per cent of households are taking advantage of solar panels on the roof. It is a huge advantage for the State and for the individual household, particularly when the weather conditions are right. It means that there is capacity in the network and less reliance on other renewable energy or scaled renewable energy, or, increasingly, coal-fired power and potentially gas. It is important for the State. We think it is the right policy for New South Wales. It is not the only policy, however, and I can report to the House that the Coalition has made a decision to scrap the 300 kilometres—
The SPEAKER: Members will come to order. The Premier has just begun to go down this line. I am interested to hear his answer.
Mr CHRIS MINNS: Members opposite are happy about it. They have made a decision to scrap the 300 kilometres of high-voltage renewable energy transmission lines between Muswellbrook and Walcha in response to "white hot outrage from locals"—that is what The Daily Telegraph is saying. I think it is more white hot outrage from Barnaby Joyce and Pauline Hanson. [Extension of time]
The SPEAKER: Members will come to order.
Mr CHRIS MINNS: We are expected to believe the policy of the New England Renewable Energy Zone [REZ], which was designed and implemented by the National Party and the Liberal Party and which had been promoted in the run-up to the 2023 election—
The SPEAKER: I remind the member for Coffs Harbour that he is on three calls to order.
Mr CHRIS MINNS: It was rolled out subsequently. All of a sudden, when Barnaby Joyce defected from the National Party and Pauline Hanson said, "We don't want to do it", guess what? They do not support it any more. Let us burn—literally burn—$250 million worth of infrastructure and planning money that has gone into this REZ. That goes up in smoke. We are expected to believe this is the position of the Liberal Party, which, at the same time, would have everybody believe it still supports renewable energy investment in the State.
Mr James Griffin: We do, we are just about to—
Mr CHRIS MINNS: Oh we do?
The SPEAKER: The member for Manly will be directed to leave the Chamber if he continues to interject
Mr CHRIS MINNS: Keep him here—we need him; he is a prop for me. The member for Manly, the energy spokesman, said in The Daily Telegraph today, "The plan makes better use of the assets we already have" and he supports the plan. Have you met a teal voter?
Mr James Griffin: What was that?
Mr CHRIS MINNS: Is this what you are running on in Manly?
The SPEAKER: The member for Manly will stop listening to the Premier and listen to me instead.
Mr CHRIS MINNS: This is the plan for the member for Manly to combat the teal wave in Manly—to junk renewable energy programs in the State at the behest of Pauline Hanson and Barnaby Joyce. That is the plan, is it? So we are going to burn and say to those who want to invest capital in renewable energy, "You are not welcome in New South Wales"?
Mr James Wallace: Who is investing?
Mr CHRIS MINNS: You are the same, mate, over in Hornsby. How is it going in Hornsby? This is the first and most obvious sign of the emergence of One Nation smashing Coalition policy when it comes to these things. It will not be the last.
24 June 2026, from 12:10.