I am very pleased to speak about an issue that is close to the heart of those who live in densely urban areas and equally close to the heart of people who live in the more rural, regional and periurban community that I represent, the electorate of Macquarie. There has been a decade of a lack of action on these matters, and the member for North Sydney is absolutely right to raise these things as key issues.
It's something we are very focused on—getting better energy performance that will put downward pressure on emissions and energy bills and making sure that there is a plan to deliver better energy performance for homes and businesses. Both these things are key.
Where are we right now? Right now we are ranked at the bottom of the list for energy efficiency when it comes to housing. Of the top 25 countries for overall energy consumption, Australia ranks 18th for efficiency, or the amount of unnecessary wasted energy, lagging behind economies like Mexico, Turkiye, India and Indonesia. As Assistant Minister Senator Jenny McAllister says, we want to make every watt count. I really couldn't put it better than that. Every bit of energy matters.
I have the dubious honour of having a very highly energy efficient house thanks to a bushfire; when my house burnt down in a bushfire in 2013, in the rebuilding we were able to do some things that we weren't able to do when we first built that house in 1990. I've seen the benefits of having thicker windows—not actually by choice; they were mandated under the bushfire building codes. The skyscraper windows that I have do create a much more energy efficient environment for us, so I have lived those benefits. I'm not by any means going to recommend that as a pathway for other people to enjoy greater energy efficiency. But I certainly would like to see a whole lot of other people retrofitting or, more to the point, building places being able to build things that are more efficient.
One of my local community builders, Blue Eco Homes, is leading the country in building passive homes. They have improved fresh air, so they are great for people with health problems including asthma; they have carbon zero status; they have a reduced carbon footprint because they are using less energy; they are using sustainable materials; they are doing waste management on site; they are using energy efficient appliances and water efficient tapware. Joe and Merylese have been recognised across the country for the work they are doing. It's no surprise to me that the Blue Mountains, where we value the climate and our environment and we want to make things better, are really leading by acting on this. Blue Eco Homes were most recently winners of the HIA New South Wales region GreenSmart Sustainable Home award. We know it's possible; the challenge is to make a commonplace
and widespread.
Last year we were able to do some significant things with state governments. In August we agreed to raise the minimum energy efficiency standards for new homes by updating the National Construction Code. That was a really practical, tangible thing to do. It means that the new whole-of-home annual energy use applicable to the home's heating and cooling equipment, hot water systems, lighting, swimming pool and spa pumps, and on-site renewable energy systems will be introduced. It will come in for most states by October this year. That will make homes more comfortable, help households with cost-of-living pressures, and support our transition to net zero. That is one really tangible example of the work this government is doing.
In addition, we have the National Energy Performance Strategy. It is frustrating that we are talking about this now in 2023 when things could have happened a decade ago, but we are working really hard to catch up that lost time. The $15 million investment over four years to provide a framework for that demand-side action is going to have a long-term result, but it is going to take a long-term effort to do it. There is so much agreement in this chamber that, if we want to see emissions down, we need to support families. Our community batteries will do that. Our 85 solar banks, our solar gardens that we will roll out, will help people who might not be able to have batteries themselves. That is the sort of initiative that we will be continuing to bring to this parliament.
