The Power Together coalition welcomes announcements by the Queensland Government, including recent State Budget announcements, that are aligned with key asks in our 2025 policy report.
These positive budget announcements include:
- $26.3 million over three years for the Supercharged Solar for Renters program, providing rebates of $3,500 for eligible landlords to install solar panels intended to reduce electricity bills for 6,500 renting households and tenants. We hope that the design of this program will ensure that the benefit of the solar installation is passed on to renters.
- $3.8 million over two years for Queensland Community Housing Energy Upgrades. In addition to $18 million provided by the Australian Government, a total of $21.8 million will be available to install energy efficient equipment to reduce energy bills for eligible properties for social housing tenants.
- $71.4 million to continue the delivery of sustainable energy solutions for isolated communities.
- $1.522 billion estimated over five years for the implementation of permanent 50 cent fares for public transport in South East Queensland and contracted regional bus services. This initiative has resulted in long-term structural cost-of-living relief, while increasing patronage and reducing road congestion and emissions.
- A total of $2.9 billion allocated to renewable energy, storage and transmission projects required for the energy transition.
- $261.9 million estimated for continuing the Queensland electricity rebate scheme, which will increase by 3.8% from $372.20 to $386.34 for eligible concession card holders. Indexation of the scheme is welcomed, providing a small increase of about $14 to an existing scheme that is targeted to households with concession cards. It is estimated that 600,000 Queenslanders will benefit from this scheme, which will increase in cost from $248.5 million in 2024-25 to $261.9 million in 2025-26. However, without a more substantial energy relief scheme, low-income households will experience energy hardship and payment difficulty.
The Power Together coalition commends the Queensland Treasury for the delivery of the energy saving programs jointly funded by the Australian Government intended to reduce electricity bills for both social housing tenants and private renters. These are very welcome first steps, however, more is needed to ensure vulnerable Queenslanders receive sufficient bill relief.
The Queensland electricity rebate scheme is modest, benefiting a relatively small proportion of people on low incomes. Without a more substantial energy relief scheme, low-income households will experience energy hardship and payment difficulty. Alternative ways to target energy relief could include redesigning the Queensland electricity rebate to implement a proportional rather than flat rate rebate, so that larger households and renters subject to higher bills receive equitable bill relief that is responsive to the energy transition. Another effective way to target bill relief is to remove administrative barriers to the Home Energy Emergency Scheme (HEEAS) for those with demonstrated payment difficulty.
Long term, sustainable and equitable ways to reduce power prices are needed through progression of affordable renewables in the energy transition. As such, there are concerning signals that the Queensland Government is not providing sufficient policy certainty for more renewable energy supply to come online to help lower the cost of living for Queenslanders. These include the Queensland Government reviewing the planned coal closure schedule and the 75% by 2035 emissions reduction target. It was disappointing to note that the Local Renewable Energy Zone funding has been removed and the program withdrawn.
Other funding gaps include:
- Direct sustainable funding for community-based organisations for disaster resilience. With extreme weather events becoming more frequent and significant sums being spent in post-disaster recovery, there is a case for funding to build the capacity of local communities to prepare for natural disasters, with an allocation of $10 million on community preparedness as a return on investment.
- Similarly, there is a need for expanding the Resilient Homes Fund grants, especially for low-income owners and social housing providers to address unresolved issues to fully recover from disasters.
- Equipping neighbourhood centres with solar and batteries to enable them to operate during power outages and disasters. This initiative would offer multiple benefits to a local community, enabling them to operate as a community recovery hub during disasters while showcasing clean energy technologies.
The Power Together coalition urges the Queensland Government to further opportunities in Consumer Energy Resources (CER) and energy efficiency, which can simultaneously ease the cost of living for Queenslanders while reducing emissions. Power Together’s full policy agenda can be found here.