If you think we’re going to double down on strong positive news now that America is going back to the Stone Age, you’d be right.
So it was super nice to read that the world of galloping sustainability continues in Australia (We are NOT yet America!).
According to the Green Building Institute’s latest email blast, interest in the Chinese car manufacturer BYD’s hybrid electric ute Shark 6 has gone gangbusters, so much so that it crashed the website!
More than 800 orders were taken for the ute brilliantly named to capture the attention of outdoor loving tradies and inner city types who identify as such. (You’ll be pleased to know ScoMo the weekend is saved!) But at $57,9000 before on-road costs, they probably think it’s cheap too!
And there was more good news from the GBI – that while South Australia had frozen the National Construction Code at 2019 levels for the poor sods who are forced to unwittingly buy retrograde properties not fit for purpose in the new world order dictated by the climate rather than Trump in urban sprawl areas such as Mount Barker the state government there is spending $35.8 million on upgrading Australian Housing Trust properties so at least these lucky occupants will be spared some of the extreme energy bills generated by the extreme weather already sometimes experienced in SA.
But wait! We dug around and it turns out SA had its arm twisted by this, with funding from the Feds. It’s part of the Social Housing Energy Performance Initiative is funding upgrades for around 60,000 homes across the country.
“The $300 million initiative will help social housing residents access the benefits of the energy transition,” says the DCCEEW site.
“The upgrades aim to reduce pressure on energy bills for social housing residents…through:
- thermal shell upgrades such as shading and insulation
- installation of energy efficient appliances such as heating and cooling, hot water systems, ovens and cooktops
- solar systems such as solar panels and batteries”
And it’s being done on a dollar for dollar basis according to the chart below.
Maybe the Feds could twist the SA arms a bit further and re-implement the Building Code of Australia for the Mount Barker folk too. And do it in a super locked in way before the Trump Dumpster hits our shores.
| State or Territory | Commitment | Upgrade type | Number of homes upgraded | Announcement date | Further information |
| ACT | Australian Government: $7.2m ACT Government: $28m Home Energy Support: Public Housing Program | Thermal shell Appliances | over 5,000 homes | 15 November 2023 | Visit the ACT Government’s Climate Choices website or email for more information |
| NSW | Australian Government: $87.5m NSW Government: $87.5m | Thermal shell Appliances Solar systems | up to 24,000 homes | 16 January 2024 | Visit the NSW Climate and Energy Action website or email for more information |
| NT | Australian Government: $5m NT Government: $5m | Appliances- heating and cooling | around 625 homes | 31 July 2024 | Visit the NT Government’s Department of Territory Families, Housing and Communities website. |
| Qld | Australian Government: $58m Qld Government: $58m Social Housing Energy Performance Initiative and Thermal Comfort Program | Thermal shell Appliances Solar systems | Around 32,000 homes | 4 September 2024 | Visit the QLD Social Housing Energy Performance Initiative website for more information |
| SA | Australian Government: $17.9m Government of South Australia: $17.9m Social Housing Energy Efficiency Program | Thermal shell Appliances | around 3,500 homes | 4 September 2024 | Email for more information. |
| Tas | Australian Government: $8.3m Tasmanian Government: $8.3m Homes Tasmania Energy Efficiency Program | Thermal shell Appliances | around 1,600 homes | 18 January 2024 | Visit the Homes Tasmania website |
| Vic | Australian Government: $46m Victorian Government: $46m Energy Efficiency in Social Housing Program | Thermal shell Appliances Solar systems | around 5,000 homes | 30 August 2023 | Visit the Housing VIC website or email for more information |