Climate

Climate legislation and emissions targets

Climate pollution from burning fossil fuels is overheating our planet and causing more frequent extreme weather events. We are in a climate emergency.

Australia has committed to net zero emissions by 2050, but the Albanese Government keeps approving new coal and gas mines—even though there are already more than 120 projects in the pipeline.

Peter Dutton’s nuclear policy is a plan for extending our dependence on failing coal plants and expensive gas.

Industry and business have led the way on climate adaptation and amelioration in Australia. They’ve told us they need certainty regarding climate targets to support investor confidence in the net zero transition.

In this term of parliament, I successfully moved an amendment to the Climate Change Act, which established our first ever legislated emissions target. I also supported legislation limiting carbon pollution and creating new jobs in green industries. There’s much more to do.

The major parties have refused to set climate targets before the next election, and the Coalition would scrap legislated emissions disclosure rules backed by peak bodies and industry.

Only a strong crossbench will hold the parties to account on setting climate targets for all sectors of our economy, measuring and reporting emissions accurately, and ensuring real progress towards net zero.

In the next term of parliament I will:

Advocate for real emissions reduction of at least 75% by 2035.
Oppose new fossil fuel developments – and end fossil fuel subsidies- in Australia.
Push for accurate measurement and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions from industry and large businesses in Australia.
Stand up for transparency and integrity in green financing from federal grants and schemes.
Push to rapidly accelerate the transition to a renewable energy economy.

Parliamentary speeches

Middle Arm and Beetaloo gas projects

Offshore CCUS

Sea dumping

Environmental protections

Climate change and environmental protections remain top priorities for me as Kooyong’s Independent.

The Albanese Government has failed to keep its promise to improve the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act. In fact, the Prime Minister blocked the legislation for an Environmental Protection Authority.

Only a strong and independent crossbench will hold the major parties accountable for their inaction on environmental protection, species conservation, and biodiversity loss.

Native forest logging

Logging of Victoria’s native forests was banned in 2023, but large areas are still being cleared. I successfully amended legislation on illegal logging in 2024, and lodged a private members bill to end ubm. I’ll continue to advocate for a federal ban on logging of native forests—to reduce carbon emissions, conserve water, and protect endangered species.

Seismic blasting

Seismic blasting for fossil fuel exploration deafens or kills marine life and damages our fishing industry. We don’t need new offshore gas projects. I led a campaign against seismic blasting and, with Bridget Archer MP, presented a private member’s bill to stop seismic blasting of our oceans.

Clean air and water

As a doctor, I know that we can’t take clean air and water for granted. I hosted more than 100 doctors and parents in parliament to protest the government’s subsidies of the Middle Arm gas precinct. I’ll continue to campaign against new fossil fuel developments which threaten our air and water, in addition to their massive contribution to global carbon emissions.

Parliamentary speeches

Electrification of homes and small businesses

Solar is the cheapest form of electricity: climate solutions are cost-of-living solutions.

Home electrification replaces inefficient emissions-intensive appliances with electric alternatives. Electrifying our homes means we’ll spend less on energy, bring down inflation, improve our health, and decrease carbon emissions.

Under current projections, by 2030 more than 84% of the main national electricity grid will be powered by renewables; 96% by 2035. Alongside critical minerals and green hydrogen, the government should work harder to support home and small business electrification. More domestic carbon emissions are created in our homes and from our cars (40%) than from our country’s businesses and their operations (30%).

We need to improve regulatory settings around energy. Homeowners with solar are, at peak times, being charged for putting electricity back into the grid; our electricity network is not set up for large amounts of energy flowing back into the network. We need a review of energy market governance to ensure the appropriate technical standards are in place and to do all we can to facilitate homeowners becoming energy producers with flexible demand and storage. Setting up the right regulations and governance structure will give confidence to the market that electrified households are central to Australia’s net-zero future.

The four million Australian households with rooftop solar are already saving at least $1,500 per year on their electricity bills — more, if they have a battery to store energy for when the sun is not shining. The initial costs for purchasing solar panels, a battery or an electric vehicle are high. They set households up for a lifetime of savings – but many homeowners and renters can’t afford to electrify. Government-backed finance and regulatory support for homeowners, renters, and small businesses will help them save money, upgrade their appliances, and improve home energy efficiency. It will decrease demand on long distance electricity transmission, and reduce the land needed for solar and wind farms. No-one should be left behind in the energy transition.

We should be taking full advantage of solar power by maximising rooftop panel installation and increasing storage capacity in homes (“behind the meter”) – via cheaper home batteries, heat pump hot water systems, and electric vehicles (their 40-60kWh batteries are four to six times the size of a typical home battery).

Only 12 per cent of homes that installed solar last year installed a battery too. Instead of cash rebate on electricity prices, aren’t we better off giving low-cost loans or rebates on power bills to incentivise battery purchases – or, even better, getting more Australians into EVs with bidirectional charging capacity?

The benefits are obvious:

Lower power bills, as households generate their own electricity (a much more durable and significant societal change than a $300 electricity bill rebate).
Less need for large-scale renewable generation, transmission and storage (progress on which is slower than we’d like).
A more reliable and resilient electricity network with distributed storage capacity in every suburb – ideally in every home.

Smart use of government subsidies will lower household bills more quickly and save taxpayers billions of dollars in energy infrastructure in the future.

In the last three years I have:

Successfully advocated for changes to the luxury car tax and for fuel efficiency standards, effectively increasing the availability and affordability of electric vehicles.
Supported the government’s $1.3 billion program for home upgrades and residential electrification, and proposed tax incentives for landlords to upgrade rental properties.
Worked with local councils and community groups in Kooyong— including Electrify Boroondara and Lighter Footprints—to support community uptake of household electrification.

Rapid move to renewables

Under current projections, by 2030 more than 84% of the main national electricity grid will be powered by renewables. We should be on track to attain 96% renewables by 2035. By 2035, a balanced mix of wind, solar, batteries, pumped hydro and very small amounts of gas peaking will provide reliable, renewable electricity around the clock - including times when electricity demand is high, and wind and sun resources are low.

Electrification support

I’m supportive of Rewiring Australia’s Electrify Everything Loans Scheme (EELS), to provide Homes and small businesses with financing at purchase for electrification upgrades.

The loan would be secured on property title, indexed to inflation, and repaid on the sale of the property - giving every property owner a simple and attractive way to unlock the cost-of-living savings offered by electrification.

Rewiring Australia’s modelling suggests that, for a cost of $5,000 per home, we could electrify all 10 million households in Australia over 14 years (within the next 15-year appliance life-cycle) at a cumulative cost to government of about $40 – 50.9 billion over the duration of the scheme, while also driving large consumer cost-of-living benefits and decarbonisation impacts.

The savings for households would amount to:

Fossil fuel homes could save $980 a year from purchasing solar, including repaying upfront costs. In electrified homes, using solar electricity and a battery and electric vehicle, power savings will average$2200/year.
Replacement of gas heating with heat pumps or reverse cycle air conditioning would save households an average of $520 year in 2025, and an average of 8500 over the life of the appliance.
Electric cooking will save $20-30/year on bills and help families avoid the negative health impact of gas cooking.
Heat pump hot water heaters will save households an average of $250/year compared to gas - $400, if the home has solar.

A similar proposal is the Renew Australia for All households package- which calls for an investment of $50 billion over 10 years for home energy upgrades.

There are a number of similar such proposals. All share the same ideal- of helping households benefit from the economic and health benefits of electrifying their homes - which must be an urgent target of the 48^th Parliament

In the next term of parliament, I’ll work for:

More public financing to help homes and small businesses electrify. Federal subsidies for electrification could save Australians $1.17 trillion by 2050—cutting home energy use by 64%—at a cost to the government of only $5,000 per home.

Better regulation of our electricity network, to accommodate the contribution of home solar, bring down electricity costs overall, and promote more distributed energy capacity within our suburbs.

Stronger government support for active transport options— including the Box Hill-Hawthorn trail. More of us would cycle or walk to work or school if we felt safe to do so. Fewer cars on our roads means decreased emissions, less traffic congestion, cleaner air, and healthier Australians.
Increased EV uptake. Nationally, range anxiety limits use of EVs in regional and rural settings, while renters often struggle to access charging facilities close to home. We need to allow distributors to install EV chargers on existing power poles, promote kerbside charging around the country, and subsidise public EV charging stations on highways and in rural settings.