Smart Energy Excellence Awards and Gala Dinner
The Hon. Matt Kean
Chair - Climate Change Authority
Check against delivery.
[Matt Kean is one of 3 speakers following Smart Energy Council's outgoing CEO, John Grimes.]
Thank you and can I add my respects to the traditional owners of this land, the Gadigal people of the Eora nation, and celebrate the contributions of their elders, past, present, and emerging.
Now, I've made a short video tribute to John as you'll see shortly. I won't steal my own thunder just yet. "Stay tuned", as they say in the classics!
Tonight, after all, is not just a chance to bid farewell to a champion of Australia's energy's transition but also to honour some of the people who rightly deserve to be recognised with a Smart Energy Excellence Award.
It's inspiring to see such a turnout here, but then again, this event and this industry is the place to be.
Who would want to be anywhere else than in a sector competing to make our lives better, our air cleaner, our energy cheaper, and, in this era of instability, make our energy more secure.
The choice is clear.
Electrons generated from the solar panels on our roofs and stored in batteries parked in our own garages, or harvested at scale in the many dozens of wind and solar farms across our nation…versus petroleum products largely extracted and processed abroad and then shipped over long-distances.
True, governments including our own have joined the scramble for short-term fuel supplies because we clearly have a lot more to do to wean our economy off imported fossil fuels.
After all, decarbonisation doesn't just happen. You have to make it happen!
And that's what the leaders and companies gathered here today have been doing for years and, in John's case, many years.
The remarkable advances in solar energy - many of them created by researchers in this city - have now been coupled with rapid improvements in battery technology.
Wind energy has an important role too, of course, but it's the twinning of sunshine and storage that is transforming energy economics in our homes and factories, and in nations around the world.
Just last month, we saw a record 2.4 gigawatt-hours of home batteries get installed as Aussie households rushed to take full advantage of the Government's cheaper home battery program. That compares with about 3.6 gigawatt-hours total that households had installed up to the end of 2024.
Rooftop solar installations are also spiking, with more than one gigawatt of capacity installed in the first 4 months of this year, or more than one-third higher than for the same period in 2025, according to SunWiz.
The Smart Energy Council - led until lately by John Grimes, of course - deserves a round of applause, and then some, for igniting that home-grown revolution.
And, of course, few nations stand to benefit more from this revolution than Australia with our tremendous renewable energy resources above the ground and the array of critical minerals below it.
Yes, there are vested interests, and we don't expect them to bow gracefully and leave the economic stage politely.
Fortunately, investors like you here this evening are waiting in the wings to take over, and with your actions and innovations, you'll get to write the script.
Well, I've held the spotlight long enough - with luminaries like Tim Buckley and Don Henry to follow, it's time for my exit.
Thanks again John for your electric drive, your insights and your friendship.
I look forward to that show returning, with more successful seasons to come!
Thanks for listening.
