Wednesday, 12 August 2026

 Martin CAMERON (Morwell) (11:36): When I was talking about this last night, I think the chamber was riveted as I moved on to part 6, clauses 141 to 145, which is talking about the rehabilitation of the Yallourn mine. As I was saying last night, the rehabilitation of the mine is front and centre in the Latrobe Valley. As you are very well aware, we do have the coal-fired power stations there, and this is another part, and hopefully not a forgotten part, of how we have to rehabilitate these mines into the future. With the Hazelwood mine at the moment, works are being done and progressing. It is something that the community are looking at front and centre, because they are going to be left with an asset after the rehabilitation. For the actual owners of the mine, who are doing the rehabilitation, their works are progressing along, but they are now waiting on the environment effects statement to come back so they know what the scope of the works will be. It has been a very, very long process with the EES. It has been stalled and bumped down the road a little bit, but it is meant to be coming back, hopefully, later this year or early next year.

There is an importance to the EES moving forward for the rehabilitation of the mine not only so that the works will be done in a proper and sound way, because this is the blueprint of rehabilitation of other mines into the future, but also because it is worthy to note, about the workforce that is currently taking out these works at the Hazelwood mine, that the works have to stop and slow down as we wait for the EES. The people of my community in the Latrobe Valley and the mine owners themselves are speaking with me and asking me to relay that this process with the EES that we all know needs to happen needs to keep progressing. We cannot have it stall, because it will be making the mine rehabilitation slow, but it is also important to note that, for the workforce that are currently onsite, their jobs are in the balance as they try and juggle having to slow before the EES comes back and they can continue on with the work. The energy and resources legislation is wideranging, and I would just like the other side of the house to make sure, as we all do, that the EES progresses swiftly.

 John MULLAHY (Glen Waverley) (11:39): I rise in support of the Energy and Resources Legislation Amendment (VEET Strategic Review and Other Matters) Bill 2026. At its heart the bill is about making the energy transition work for ordinary Victorians. It is about ensuring that a family replacing an old gas heater, a renter trying to make their home more comfortable or a small business investing in efficient equipment can share the benefits of this change. It is about lower bills, safer and more efficient homes and workplaces and good, skilled jobs. The Victorian energy upgrades (VEU) program has already made an enormous contribution. Since it began in 2009, it has helped more than 2.4 million households and 180,000 businesses become more energy efficient while avoiding more than 96 million tonnes of carbon emissions. In 2025 alone, more than 147,000 households and 13,000 ‍businesses received discounted products and services and more than 340,000 upgrades were delivered, including a record number of discounted heating and cooling installations.

Those figures are impressive, but behind every figure is a practical improvement: a home that is warmer in winter and cooler in summer, a power bill that is easier to manage, a business that can invest its savings back into its workers, and less pressure on the energy system for everybody. This program was established for the energy system of 2009. Victoria’s energy system, our technology and the needs of consumers have changed substantially since then. The next stage requires more complex upgrades and mass electrification, flexible demand and a program capable of keeping pace with new technology. That is why the strategic review was necessary and why this bill matters. I want to acknowledge the outstanding work of the former Minister for Energy and Resources, the member for Mill Park. Her leadership helped turn Victoria from a state left exposed by privatisation and policy neglect into a national leader in renewable energy, energy efficiency and climate action. She championed the revival of the SEC, drove nation-leading renewable energy targets, and consistently understood that climate policy must also be industry policy, jobs policy and cost-of-living policy. This bill builds on that formidable legacy.

I also want to acknowledge the ongoing advocacy of the Electrical Trades Union, and, most importantly, the electricians and electrical workers doing the work every day. They are installing the heat pumps, upgrading switchboards, connecting renewable generation and storage, maintaining our networks and making homes and workplaces ready for an all-electric future. They are not standing on the sidelines of the transition; they are building it with their own hands. The ETU has rightly insisted that this transition must be safe, properly regulated and delivered by skilled, licensed workers. That advocacy matters. Electrification cannot be a race to the bottom. Public confidence depends on quality installations, strong standards and workers who have the training and qualifications to do the job safely. This bill reflects that principle by enabling appropriate limits on who may carry out highly specialised or sensitive activities, as well as training and competency requirements for participants.

The central reform in this bill is to expand and modernise the purpose of the Victorian Energy Efficiency Target Act 2007, which will become the Victorian Energy Upgrades Target Act. Greenhouse gas abatement remains central, but the program will also recognise the broader environmental, economic and social benefits that come from the efficient and effective use of energy. That is an important change because the present framework is too narrow. Some technologies do not produce an immediate, easily measured reduction at the point of installation but are essential to electrification and emissions reduction over time. Electrification enabling technologies and flexible demand technologies should not be excluded merely because the law has failed to keep pace with the energy system. This bill will allow certificates to represent benefits beyond direct emissions reductions. It will also enable targeted measures, including stronger incentives for particular technologies or support of cohorts who face barriers to participation. Low-income households and renters should not be locked out because they lack the capital and the control over their property or the ability to navigate a complex scheme. The transition must reach people who need lower bills most, not only those who can afford to move first.

The bill also creates a more flexible process for adding new upgrade activities through activities orders. At present, bringing a new activity to the program can require a cumbersome regulatory process. Technology will not wait for legislation to catch up. A more responsive mechanism means proven innovations can reach households and businesses sooner while still being subject to the proper standards and oversight.

Importantly, customers remain at the centre of the program. The bill extends and clarifies the role of the Essential Services Commission as regulator and administrator. It clarifies the responsibilities of accredited persons, including where contractors undertake the work, and it allows accreditation for longer periods so that the effort can shift from repetitive administration to ongoing compliance. It also enables an external dispute resolution provider and requirements for participants in specified activities to belong to the independent complaints body. That balance is right, with less unnecessary red tape for honest and compliant operators but stronger accountability where consumer safety and confidence are at stake. A discount is not a benefit if the work is unsafe, the information is misleading or the consumer has nowhere effective to turn when something goes wrong.

The bill also introduces sensible tools to protect the stability and integrity of the certificate market. Where actual activity diverges exceptionally from the assumptions used to set targets, the minister will have a mechanism to adjust the target by instrument. Relevant entities will also be able to carry forward up to 10 per cent of their certificate liability into the following year, and that liability is deferred, not forgiven. This measured flexibility helps avoid unnecessary volatility while preserving the annual target and supporting the continued delivery of upgrades on the ground.

These reforms matter for industry as well as for households. A stable and responsive VEU program provides a pipeline of work, clearer investment signals and greater confidence for businesses training apprentices, employing electricians and investing in the equipment and skills Victoria needs. The energy transition should create secure, skilled and well-paid work, and it should recognise the people whose expertise makes the transition possible.

This bill also strengthens broader energy consumer protection. It confirms the pricing orders under the Electricity Industry Act 2000 and Gas Industry Act 2001, it can regulate tariffs beyond standing offers, without unintended consequences for the Victorian default offer, it creates a power to regulate or prohibit specified fees and charges and it improves consistency and visibility for exempt gas sellers, including embedded networks. These are practical powers, because energy is an essential service. Families should not be trapped by unfair fees, opaque charges or monopoly arrangements simply because they live in an apartment building, retirement village or caravan park. Government has the responsibility to set the rules in the public interest and to ensure energy companies treat their customers fairly.

Finally, the bill makes targeted and time-sensitive amendments concerning rehabilitation of the Hazelwood mine. The current mining licence expires on 10 September 2026. The amendments ensure that existing licence-based controls continue for rehabilitation purposes until the declared mine rehabilitation plan becomes the principal regulatory instrument. They also preserve the ability to increase rehabilitation bonds if the work is incomplete after the licence expires. That continuity is essential; the end of mining is not the end of the responsibility. The community must be protected from public safety, environmental and financial risks, and the operator must remain accountable for rehabilitation. There can be no regulatory gap and no shifting of private liabilities onto the Victorian public.

Those opposite like to keep talking about extending Yallourn. In the last year it was offline for more than 30 per cent of the time across its four units. It is simply too old and too unreliable, and that is why we need to make sure that we have these rules in place to make sure that we have the energy in place for Victorians.

We believe government should help people participate in change. We believe lower emissions and lower bills can go together. We believe the transition must be safe, fair and built on secure, skilled employment, and we believe that the workers delivering it deserve a voice on how it is done. This bill equips a proven program for its next chapter. It widens access, supports innovation, strengthens consumer protections, provides certainty for industry and keeps responsibility where it belongs. It honours the policy leadership of the member for Mill Park and the practical leadership of the ETU, electricians and electrical workers across Victoria. This is how we make the energy transition real: upgrade by upgrade, household by household, business by business and job by job. I commend the bill to the house.

 Ellen SANDELL (Melbourne) (11:49): I too rise to speak on this energy legislation. This is the final piece of legislation that was introduced by the member for Mill Park, as others have mentioned, before announcing her resignation and leaving this portfolio. Before I speak to the bill, I would briefly like to take this opportunity to congratulate the member for Mill Park Lily D’Ambrosio for her exceptional run as Australia’s longest-serving energy and climate minister. The former minister was appointed to these portfolios, energy and climate, back in 2014, and people might remember 2014 was back when former Prime Minister Tony Abbott repealed Australia’s carbon price, creating a policy vacuum that lasted more than a decade. We still really do not have much energy and climate leadership at a federal level, even under the Albanese Labor government, unless you count the several dozen new coal and gas mines, the refusal to tax gas exports or a slight tweak to Abbott’s safeguard mechanism. The reason I am saying this is because there was such a huge gap in climate policy in this country for 10 years.

Danny Pearson interjected.

Ellen SANDELL: Acting Speaker, I have endured quite targeted and personal abuse by the member for Essendon over the whole 12 years I have been in this chamber, and I think it is about time it is called out and held to account. What I am trying to do is congratulate the member for Mill Park because, really, for her entire career as a minister, states and territories have had to go it alone when it comes to the climate crisis, and in spite of the policy vacuum at a federal level, the minister achieved some really incredible things. We want to congratulate her for the really incredible progress that we saw here in Victoria. Things like having a renewable energy target at a state level – when I first came into this place, people said it could not be done. We advocated for it, and the minister showed that it could be done. Also, she introduced targets for storage and targets for offshore wind power, which we hope are able to be implemented, and a huge expansion of renewables across Victoria.

We have seen Victoria move from a state that is highly reliant on coal – it still is, but we now have a plan for moving away from coal towards renewable energy. We have seen work towards a just transition for coal workers. We have seen the setting up of the State Electricity Commission, bringing that back. We have seen the beginning of the phase-out of expensive, polluting gas products. Victoria is the state that is most reliant on gas, particularly in our homes and also in industry and manufacturing, so that is a huge achievement, that move towards getting off gas. We have seen a ban on onshore fracking. There are many more things that she achieved, but the thing that everyone talks about is that she actually really knew her portfolio and really cared about her portfolio and was in it for a very long time and developed this incredible expertise.

2014, when the minister became minister, was also the first year that I entered Parliament. Over 12 ‍years of course there have been times when I wished Labor had gone further on climate or when I wished that different decisions were made, particularly on things like gas drilling. But it has been a privilege to work also many times with the minister and with her staff and her office. There were many times when we worked very closely together to push for important reforms, and we achieved a lot of progress over this time.

The minister leaves behind a very honourable legacy for Victoria, and on behalf of myself but also on behalf of all of my Greens colleagues we wish her the very best for her life after Parliament. I have passed on those congratulations and best wishes personally as well. I wish the new minister, Minister Symes in the other place, all the best. There is a lot more, obviously, still to do in Victoria as we face huge threats from climate change that all of us will feel, and I hope that the new minister is able to build on the legacy of the member for Mill Park.

Now I would like to make some comments about the Energy and Resources Legislation Amendment (VEET Strategic Review and Other Matters) Bill 2026. The Greens will be supporting this bill, which will implement recommendations from the 2024 review into the Victorian energy upgrades scheme and make some improvements to the plan for rehabilitating the Hazelwood mine. There are a few technical questions that have come to us from stakeholders. We will be seeking to clarify those and ask them in the committee stage in the upper house, as we do not get a chance to do that at the third-reading stage here in the lower house. Particularly, there are a bunch of questions on behalf of the Energy Savings Industry Association. I am not going to go through all of those questions here because they are quite long and technical, but we will send those to the minister’s office ahead of talking about them in committee so that we hopefully are able to get some of those answers.

Specifically, we are really glad to see the government updating the Victorian energy upgrades legal framework to recognise those energy upgrades that come with a range of environmental, economic and social benefits, not just benefits to directly reduce emissions. We know that the VEU has been a pretty effective mechanism to help with the cost of upgrading people’s homes to more energy-efficient products, things like electric hot water, electric space heaters, induction cooktops. I have an induction cooktop. I highly recommend you get your gas replaced with induction if you can. It is just brilliant, and brilliant for your kids’ health, brilliant for your gas bills, but also so fast and just an amazing way to cook.

I actually recently visited the very first hotpot restaurant that is all-electric in Australia, which is in my electorate. It is just behind the Queen Vic market, an incredible hotpot restaurant, with some incredible leadership by a local guy who wanted to prove that you can actually do hotpot electric. A lot of people were very sceptical at the time. They said, ‘No way, you can’t do it without gas. Impossible to do it without gas. You need that’ – I think they call it a fire flavour in the hotpot. But he said, ‘No, I think we can do it.’ They invested a huge amount in solar and in batteries, and they were able to go all electric. He said that he did a test with some chefs he brought in to test the difference between electric hotpot and gas hotpot, and they could not tell the difference. It was just as good. I highly recommend you get down there and check out all-electric hotpot just behind the Queen Vic market in my electorate.

Window glazing and things like that have also been involved in the VEU scheme. One thing that I am really proud of is advocating for ceiling insulation to be involved in the scheme, and we worked closely with the minister’s office during some negotiations to ensure that there was funding and regulatory changes to put ceiling insulation into the scheme. We know it is one of the most effective and cheapest ways to bring down emissions and bring down energy bills. We look forward to seeing other forms of insulation, like wall insulation, included as there is more evidence about how that is working.

But we know that there is more to do. We know that we need to bring down the price of energy and bring down our emissions for all Victorians. We know that our vulnerable and low-income Victorians often still find it quite hard to access these kinds of upgrades. There is still a gap in what you get from the VEU and what you have to pay to include upgrades. We also know there is a big information gap. Even me trying to get our hot water changed from gas, there is just so much information. You do not know who to trust. You do not know which information to trust about what products you should use in your specific circumstance. There is still a bit of work to do.

We are hoping that the government will use its new powers that are in this bill to lock in some targeted rebates for vulnerable cohorts as soon as possible, because we know also that there is a very real threat that a future coalition or coalition–One Nation government will dismantle the VEU entirely, even though it has been highly successful at bringing down bills. In a reasonable world you would think that a Liberal or One Nation government would not want to repeal something that brings down emissions and brings down bills. That should be unthinkable, but sadly I would not put it past the Liberals and Nationals and One Nation to rip up VEU if it helps their coal and gas donors, who no doubt are in their ear.

The coalition has already announced, unfortunately, that it would stop critical renewables projects being rolled out across Victoria, which would be an absolute disaster for our energy system and a disaster for our climate. Climate is one of those issues that affects all of us, but it particularly affects regional Victorians. I would hope that anyone seeking to represent regional Victoria would see the existential threat that climate change presents and implement some policies that will actually bring down our emissions and help us avoid those threats.

We also know that, despite the good work of programs like the Victorian energy upgrades program, the Labor government is still in many aspects trying to have it both ways when it comes to climate change. We saw the former Premier Jacinta Allan give in to gas donors and pledge to fast-track new gas projects in Victoria, including in our oceans, including right near the Twelve Apostles. We also saw the previous Labor Premier backflip on plans to phase out gas cooktops and gas-fired space heaters, which really needs to be the next phase of getting us off gas. Unfortunately, we have also heard that the new Premier is considering winding back targets for offshore wind, which was a legacy of the former minister, the member for Mill Park. I very much hope that her legacy is honoured and that our targets for offshore wind are not rolled back, because this is, again, the next phase of our energy transition that needs to be implemented in Victoria. All of this rolling back of climate action and all of this investment in gas, investment in fossil fuels and more drilling in Victoria really just shows the power that the fossil fuel lobby still has in this state and still has in this country. The fossil fuel lobby has a financial incentive to delay the transition to cheap, clean renewables. The power that coal and gas companies have over governments in this country prevents good programs, even programs like the VEU, which we are discussing today, ever reaching their full potential.

I just want to talk a little bit about the propaganda coming from the fossil fuel industry right now, because it is extreme and it is deeply, deeply concerning. We talk a lot about misinformation in this place and the danger to democracy of misinformation. The misinformation and the propaganda coming out of the fossil fuel lobby is some of the worst that we have seen, and it is increasing, and it is deeply disturbing. The fossil fuel lobby spends literally tens of millions of dollars lying to Australians and lying to Victorians. We saw it with their rebranding of ‘clean coal’ a decade ago, which governments seemed to take up with gusto, and now we are seeing the gas industry use the terms ‘renewable gas’ or ‘clean gas’. But this is a furphy; it is a complete lie. In fact the fossil fuel lobby, the gas lobby, even sponsored – that is, bribed – MasterChef Australia back in 2024, two years ago, to spruik this renewable gas con. They prevented MasterChef, through their sponsorship, from moving to induction cooktops, even though we know how great they are for health and how much they reduce emissions. MasterChef in the UK, in Italy, in Singapore and in other countries have already switched to cheaper, cleaner induction electric cooktops, but in Australia somehow we are still so recalcitrant that MasterChef let the gas industry bribe and sponsor them to stick with gas to have that cultural influence over the people who are viewing MasterChef. I think that is absolutely deplorable.

The fossil fuel industry, let us remember, invest in this kind of propaganda because they are terrified that the community is waking up to how damaging this product is, how bad it is for our health, how bad it is for our climate and how bad it is for our kids. The gas industry is terrified of governments making laws to restrict their extraordinary profits. But let us call it what it is: it is selfish. It is unconscionable to sell out our kids’ future, which is literally what the gas companies are doing, so that their executives and shareholders can make a quick buck. I actually do not know how they sleep at night, to be honest with you.

Talking about our kids’ future, fossil fuel companies are now going to such extraordinary measures with their propaganda that they are coming after our kids. They are coming after our kids in their schools, in their child cares, in their sports clubs and in museums. Right now in fact there are more than 260 programs across Australia sponsored by the coal and gas industry in these institutions that are supposed to be for our kids’ education. In one activity sponsored by Woodside kids get to use bread and Vegemite and sprinkles to model offshore oil and gas drilling. They find the best spots in the sandwich to drill for oil, aka Vegemite. This is ridiculous. I have got a consent form here that parents received for their kids to participate in model oil and gas drilling in their classrooms sponsored by Woodside. These programs are run by Woodside. They are run by BP. They are run by other fossil fuel lobby groups and corporations. I think it should actually be a crime for any corporation to buy this level of influence in our schools, let alone fossil fuel companies, whose whole business model is putting our children’s future at risk by fuelling the climate crisis. Of course none of these programs or resources mention the fact that fossil fuels are cooking the planet and causing climate change, which is killing people and will kill our kids and their future. Instead they tell kids that solar power is unreliable, which is not true, and that coal gives us cheap, reliable power – also not true. They are literally selling lies to our children that will destroy their future.

I do not know how this is legal, and yet it is right out of big tobacco’s playbook. We have seen this before. This is exactly what big tobacco did, and look how that turned out. We look back on that and say that that was immoral, that that was unconscionable. Well, this is immoral; this is unconscionable. To get kids when they are young and when they are in an educational setting where they are supposed to trust the information that they are being given and then teach them that something that is incredibly dangerous is actually fun and normal – I mean, this should be illegal. Yet governments are letting this happen in our schools.

Last year we in the Greens asked the former education minister, who is now the Labor Premier of Victoria, to ban this kind of fossil fuel advertising and sponsorship in our public schools in Victoria. All we got was a non-answer saying, ‘We’ll ensure that educational policies consider climate change where relevant.’ Well, this is highly relevant. Having Woodside, BP and other fossil fuel companies going into our schools to teach kids about how great oil and gas drilling is, completely devoid of any mention of the fact that it causes climate change, is relevant. Why is this allowed? I actually think the lack of courage from our government on this is pathetic. If Labor cannot even stop fossil fuel companies going into our schools and indoctrinating our kids, what hope do we have that Labor is going to be serious about tackling the climate crisis?

I think a very small thing that the new Premier could do in Victoria is ban the influence that fossil fuel companies have over our kids’ education, and then let us take the step to ban the influence that they have over our democracy and ban donations from fossil fuel companies and make sure that they are not allowed into these halls of power to sell their lies.

 Paul HAMER (Box Hill – Minister for Roads and Road Safety) (12:07): I move:

That the debate be now adjourned.

Motion agreed to and debate adjourned.

Ordered that debate be adjourned until later this day.