Federal Labor member Jerome Laxale for household electrification
1 April 2025
Pictured, left to right: Solar householder Simon Reed, Inner West Community Energy committee member Amanda Deacon, Jerome Laxale, and Inner West Community Energy volunteer Jasper Webster.
Federal Labor member for Bennelong in Sydney’s north-west, Jerome Laxale, today committed to urging his colleagues, if Labor is re-elected, to do more to help households go all-electric.
“It should definitely be on the agenda for a re-elected Labor Government to help households electrify,” Mr Laxale told us.
He was speaking at the West Ryde home of Inner West Community Energy member Simon Reed, who was hosting a meeting as part of the Rewiring Australia campaign to encourage political parties to commit to encouraging the electrification of houses to cut energy bills, carbon emissions, and improve indoor air quality.
Simon’s 34-panel, 10.88 kilowatt system with 10 kilowatt-hour battery was installed six years ago, Inner West Community Energy’s system number 53. (We did system 428 last week.) Simon’s last electricity bill, for February, was $83.58. That included the costing of charging an EV and a plug-in hybrid.
With 40% of his electorate in rental property, Jerome also committed to writing to the federal Energy and Housing Ministers to coordinate policies that would support tenants being able to live in homes that have gone all-electric. He said governments also needed to do more to help households in strata buildings install solar, batteries, EV chargers and to go all-electric.
Inner West Community Energy last month signed up to help promote the Rewiring Australia “Electrify Everything for Everyone” campaign, which, amongst other things, calls for expanded subsidies and rebates for electric appliances, including home batteries, with targeted programs for low-income households; funding for programs that provide trusted advice and support; and large-scale investment in training and education.
Inner West Community Energy has also asked the Liberal candidate for Bennelong, Scott Yung, for a meeting. We’re yet to get an appointment.