Parents for Climate welcomes the funding commitments made in last night’s Budget to the clean energy transition, but says 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.”
BACKGROUND
Parents for Climate’s 2022 The Real Cost of Living: how the energy crisis is hurting Australian families report surveyed more than 1000 Australians, finding that those who could afford to electrify home appliances were doing so and saving money, but that renters and lower-income households are too often locked out of these savings.
Parents for Climate’s 2023 report Hothouse Australia: Our kids at risk as heat soars, in collaboration with health advocacy group Sweltering Cities, highlights that millions of children, including over 760,000 children living in poverty in Australia, face heightened risks to their health and education from exposure to extreme summer heat in homes, schools and childcare centres. Around 3 in 4 lower-income households, already making hard choices to keep food on the table, are also likely to cut back on the use of air conditioning and cooling appliances due to cost pressures, despite living in poorly insulated and energy-inefficient homes.
Parents for Climate’s 2024 Solar Our Learning – Saving Millions for the Early Learning Sectorreport consulted a wide range of ECEC centres. Many services named financial viability as an important issue. Large chains were found to be installing solar and saving money, but smaller services typically lacked the staff capacity to navigate the solar market, paying more for power as a result.
ABOUT PARENTS FOR CLIMATE
Parents for Climate is Australia’s leading climate advocacy organisation for parents, carers, families and all who care about a safe future for kids, representing over 22,000 parents. Parents for Climate has been at the forefront of securing renewable energy in schools, such as the NSW Smart Energy School Pilot Project. Founded in 2019 by six regional, rural and urban mums in four states and territories, Parents for Climate is a parent organisation, run by parents for parents. Parents for Climate exists to secure ambitious climate action for the love of our kids.
