POLITICS
Cheaper home batteries for our community
Surgery wait times slashed in Western Sydney Local Health with Michelle Rowland MP Federal Member for Greenway
Imagine how much energy is needed to toast 420,000 slices of bread, display 42,000 hours of Netflix, or fully charge nearly 900,000 iPhones? Well, this is how much energy has already been installed here in Greenway through the cheaper home batteries scheme.
Labor went to the election with a promise to make home batteries more affordable for Western Sydney households, and we are delivering on that commitment.
On July 1 our Cheaper Home Batteries program commenced and has since delivered over 50,000 installations across the country, including over 4,200 in Western Sydney.
The Cheaper Home Batteries program reduces the cost of a typical home battery installation by around 30 % – a saving of roughly $ 4,000. For households with existing rooftop solar, that delivers savings of up to $ 1,100 a year on power bills, while families installing new solar and battery systems can save up to $ 2,300 a year.
Locals in our community care about Australia’ s clean energy future, but they also want to cut their power bills and reduce their reliance on the grid. This program delivers both, and it’ s been fantastic to see the strong uptake in our area. In fact, the highest take-up of cheaper home batteries isn’ t in inner cities, but in our outer suburbs and regional areas. This is no surprise, with 10 times more solar rooftop panels in Blacktown than Bondi.
In the first half of 2025, rooftop solar accounted for 12.8 % of Australia’ s electricity generation – up from just 6 % in 2020 – and our Government is working to expand access to cheaper and cleaner energy.
We’ re investing $ 100 million through the Solar Banks program to provide shared solar systems for over 25,000 apartments and rental properties. We’ re also delivering upgrades to more than 100,000 social housing properties, including solar, batteries, and energyefficiency improvements, lowering power bills for those who need it most.
Programs like these show that transitioning to clean energy doesn’ t just protect our environment, it strengthens communities, helps household budgets, and empowers Australians to take control of their energy future.
I am proud that our community in North West Sydney is leading the way, proving that sustainability and affordability can go hand in hand.
District, but more to do
The number of overdue surgeries has fallen dramatically in Western Sydney Local Health District from over 2000 in June 2022 to less than five in June 2025.
It comes as overdue surgeries across the state have fallen 85 per cent in the same period.
It follows the Minns Labor Government’ s investment of over $ 200 million over the past year to further reduce the number of patients with planned surgeries waiting longer than clinically recommended.
NSW is one of the strongest performing states in Australia for planned surgery with the highest proportion of patients admitted within clinically recommended time at 85.3 per cent in 2023-24, above Queensland( 81per cent), Victoria( 80 per cent) and Western Australia( 80 per cent).
Since the establishment of NSW Surgical Care Governance Taskforce in 2023, a range of innovative statewide strategies have been implemented to cut down wait times as well as improve and maintain access to planned surgery.
This includes the expansion of same day surgery across NSW. Surgery that can be safely performed on the same day helps to meet the demand for surgery and improves patient experiences by enabling patients to return to the comfort of their home with support, where clinically appropriate.
The Surgical Care Strategic Committee is continuing the work of the Taskforce to ensure public hospital surgical services in NSW are sustainable and patients can continue to access the care they require in clinically recommended timeframes.
Edmond Atalla MP, Member for Mount Druitt said,“ Thanks to the hard work of our local health teams, we are seeing real improvements in surgery wait times. The Minns Government recognises that there is more to be done and that no one should have to wait longer than is necessary to receive life changing surgery.
That is why with increased staffing and more funding, we are working to ensure timely access to the services people need. 18 ISSUE 55 // OCTOBER 2025 theindependentmagazine. com. au BLACKTOWN CITY INDEPENDENT