Hi Allegra,

The Bondi Battery has launched!

Bondi has a new community battery. It was great to switch it on the other week with an excited crowd of residents, The Hon Chris Bowen MP, Ausgrid, Origin Energy and Energy Australia.

The battery will help deliver cleaner and cheaper electricity to our local area helping reduce power bills and climate pollution.

The battery works by soaking up excess rooftop solar in the day and distributing it to households at peak time. It allows those with rooftop solar to sell energy to the battery, and gives people who rent or live in an apartment the option of buying cheap, locally generated power from it!

This is a big win for our community – and exactly the kind of innovation that we need to make sure renters and apartment dwellers can share in the benefits of the clean energy transition. And better still, it’s even got an EV charger attached.

Find an EV charger near you

Getting more EV chargers to our local area is essential. I have been working with local and state governments to ensure that EV charging is accessible to everyone. Many people ask me where the nearest charger is to them, so I have compiled a list of all the chargers in our local area. There are already 42 in Wentworth, and many more on the way.

Click on the link below to find a charger near you.

Takeaways from our recent nuclear energy chat

It was fantastic to see so many of you over Zoom for a discussion on nuclear energy with experts Alison Reed and Tennant Reed. In case you missed it, here are my quick takeaways:

• Like Alison and Tennant, I’m not anti-nuclear and I’m open to possibilities of all clean energy technologies. But nuclear just isn’t a good option for Australia right now because it’s too slow and it’s too expensive.
• Nuclear is around two to four times the cost of our renewable energy sources and a nuclear plant wouldn’t be possible until the 2040s.
• What we do in the next 10 years is what matters and nuclear can’t deliver in that timeframe. It matters for our energy security because we need to replace the 90% of coal-fired power stations retiring in the next decade. And it matters for climate because we’re already close to dangerous levels of global heating.
• We already have the technologies to decarbonise our energy system with wind, solar, and storage – and unlike nuclear, they’re getting cheaper.
• We are already at around 40% renewables in our main grid, and we have a great plan to continue the transition – through the Australian Energy Market Operator’s Integrated Systems Plan. We need to get on with it.
• During the Zoom, Tennant and Alison also identified some large holes in the Coalition's plan – the current owners of the sites for the power stations don’t want to sell, it would mean we miss our climate targets and use a lot more coal and gas, and it would only provide a small fraction of our energy needs even if built.

You can view a shortened recording of the Zoom below.

What happened in Parliament this fortnight?

• Legislation was introduced to wipe $3 billion off student debt for $3 million Australians. I’ve been pushing hard for this change, which will make a huge difference to young Australians.
• We passed new laws to help crack down on the CFMEU. Whilst I supported the changes, they don’t go far enough in delivering the systemic reform we need. Read about the joint crossbench letter to the PM I led on here.
• I spoke out against the appalling behaviour in parliament, as laws were introduced that would introduce fines and sanctions for MPs who engage in misconduct. Read more here.
• I called for new laws to protect the LGBTQI+ community from discrimination, as well as to protect people of faith. Read more here.
• We also passed major reforms to the NDIS and new laws to make multinationals pay their fair share of tax.
• I spoke about making childcare more affordable, our amazing surf life-saving clubs, Wentworth’s Olympians, the housing crisis, supporting our universities and paid tribute to holocaust survivor Olga Horak OAM who died last week.

Raising the community's questions with the major banks

The banks are coming to meet with the Economics Committee next week.

I have been in discussions with economists, business groups and experts about the issues I will be raising with them.

But I want to know the issues that are top of mind for the community so that I can make sure they are not left off the agenda.

Please fill out my questionnaire and tell me the matters you would like raised.

I might not be able to get to all of them during the Committee hearing, but I will do what I can to raise the ones you rate as most important or make sure they are raised by other Committee members.

I look forward to seeing you around the community or at a local event. Make sure you keep up to date via my social media and events page.

Best wishes,

Allegra Spender MP