Budget missed opportunity to ease cost of living with clean energy

Parents for Climate welcome the funding commitments made in last night’s Budget to the clean energy transition, but say opportunities have been missed on cost of living and securing a safe climate for Australian children.

“As parents navigating cost of living challenges who also want a safe climate for our kids to thrive, the Budget’s report card is mixed,” said Parents for Climate CEO Nic Seton.

“Our budget report card shows that this government is committed to progress on clean economic development, but there are serious omissions and missed opportunities when it comes to long-term fixes for cost of living, and to the duty of care the government has for our kids’ climate. 

“We welcome the investments made in the Future Made in Australia package, including the attention paid to resourcing skills training. These investments will help deliver the jobs our kids will do in the future economy.

“We also welcome the investments to support consumers to benefit from the energy transition, and those in active transport, preparing rural communities for climate impacts and drought, and supporting communities to transition away from fossil fuels jobs.

“While short-term energy bill relief is welcome, the opportunity was missed to lower power bills permanently by supporting more vulnerable families to access bill-busting rooftop solar and electric appliances.

“The government has also overlooked the historic cost-saving potential of solar and batteries in schools and early childhood centres that could boost education budgets and help lower energy prices for consumers.

“And while there’s no new funding for gas projects, support for climate-wrecking pollution remains dangerously high. There’s no reduction in subsidies for fossil fuels, no increase to relevant corporate taxes, and public money is still committed to the disastrous Middle Arm project. We expect better from our government and so do our kids.”