WA Premier Promises $5000-$7500 Rebate for Home Batteries if He Wins Upcoming WA Election

rsingh87 on 23/02/2025 - 17:34
Last edited 23/02/2025 - 19:27 by 1 other user

WA Premier Roger Cook said if he wins he will give households a battery grant of $5k-$7.5k for WA-made batteries https://au.news.yahoo.com/made-wa-labor-spruiks-manufacturin….

That seems pretty good? Creates jobs, uses our surplus of lithium gives us nearly free batteries. Home batteries aren’t as complex as car batteries so it’s something reasonable we could manufacture?

I can’t seem to find out what Liberal leader Mettam stance on home battery grants are?

Edit: there are a lot of unanswered questions here
spoke to my solar guy who said usually inverters only work with their own brand of battery.
So does this rebate include the usual china batteries?
It would be crazy to leave most west Australians who already have inverters with no battery option

Electrical & Electronics Solar Battery

Comments

  • SBOB on 23/02/2025 - 17:43

    That seems pretty good? Creates jobs, uses our surplus of lithium gives us nearly free batteries. Home batteries aren’t as complex as car batteries so it’s something reasonable we could manufacture

    All completely unrelated to a 5k residential battery 'grant' program though.

    • rsingh87 on 23/02/2025 - 17:48
      -1

      “He also promised $50 million to kickstart battery manufacturing in the state to create the batteries necessary for its $5000 rebate and $10,000 loan home battery incentive promise.”

  • freefall101 on 23/02/2025 - 17:51

    I’m all for it, but it feels like it’ll be another election until they get it off the ground. There’s a lot of steps involved, there’s a lithium refinery in WA already but no cell manufacturing or pack gigafactory.

    We should be making our own batteries though, they will cost a bit more but it pours the money back into our own economy instead of a foreign one.

    • rsingh87 on 23/02/2025 - 17:56
      -1

      Yeah true will take some time to come online and batteries could become even cheaper till then. I suppose we got to try making something in this state and I don’t see what the opposition are offering.

  • Protractor on 23/02/2025 - 18:00

    Cook should get Albo to put a huge tariff on all Australian lithium to the USA. The sooner Australia gets a head of the USA on this battery manufacture, front the better. They get most of our decent lithium already. We are stupid for selling raw resources and never value adding. F***k the USA. They officially hate renewables anyway. Let them drill baby drill.

    • soan papdi on 23/02/2025 - 18:11
      -1

      Cook should get Albo to put a huge tariff on all Australian lithium to the USA.

      Tariffs are set by the importer's govt (USA) and paid for by the importer

      We are stupid for selling raw resources and never value adding

      Totally agreed.

      • fantombloo on 23/02/2025 - 18:17
        +1

        Export tarrifs are paid for by the exporter and recouped in higher export prices. Nothing new here.

        • soan papdi on 23/02/2025 - 18:20
          -1

          Learnt something today. However, why would we voluntarily hurt our exports? We have enough raw material to do both export and value add locally

          • fantombloo on 23/02/2025 - 18:26

            @soan papdi: Something's always gonna hurt. Gotta pick according to overall strategy. A good design has the benefactors helping the hurt. There are intelligent people who spend their entire professional lives figuring out these things - it's most likely not going to be a simple one paragraph answer.

          • happydude on 23/02/2025 - 18:28

            @soan papdi: Export Tariffs are usually used when there is a domestic shortage of a product and the government want to keep it more of it at home. They are increasingly rare.

            In the case of lithium, it would be insane.

            • fantombloo on 23/02/2025 - 18:31

              @happydude:

              domestic shortage of a product

              Innovation and technology are also such products.

              Im not saying anything specifically about lithium here, just putting forward that you're not saying anything about the above.

              • happydude on 23/02/2025 - 18:34

                @fantombloo: Removing international price competition is rarely a good idea. It deceases incentive and increases risk for primary producers if they can only rely on domestic demand. GDP is better served by demand.

                Cutting red tape for Innovation and technology is better policy.

                • fantombloo on 23/02/2025 - 18:38

                  @happydude:

                  red tape

                  Genuinely interested in what specific red tape you see here. (Not necessarily related to export tarrifs ✌️)

                • tenpercent on 23/02/2025 - 20:52

                  @happydude: Fat lot of good a bigger GDP will do for Australia when its mainly foreigners and big corporations who own the primary producers who in turn own the state politicians and keep the royalties low.

  • brendanm on 23/02/2025 - 18:44
    -1

    Everyone needs to get behind Li-S energy, Australian designed and manufactured (eventually) batteries, world leading energy density.

  • tenpercent on 23/02/2025 - 19:51
    +1

    Premier Promises $5000-$7500 Rebate … if He Wins Upcoming WA Election

    That's the West Australian way! Buying votes just before an election.

    …then Cook the Crook will retire before the subsequent election and roll straight into a cushy 6 figure job with one of the big lithium miners.

    • Protractor on 23/02/2025 - 20:35
      +1

      Nah, big gas or mining job awaits.It's a WA tradition. The stench of brown paper bags under tables is rife in govts on both sides.Note that McGowan and his ex treasurer both accidentally fell into good fortune VERY soon after they retired. Funny how in McGowans case his burnt out,no energy left vanished quicker than wink.These days paper bags come in crypto format.

    • Thesinc on 23/02/2025 - 21:23

      You realise election promises aren't "vote buying" - they're how democracy works. Parties present ideas they think will help people, and voters decide if they agree. That's literally the point of elections 🤷‍♂️

      • tenpercent on 23/02/2025 - 21:29

        I will give you money if you vote me. Democracy is so very nice.

        • Protractor on 23/02/2025 - 21:48

          "I will give you something you may or may not want, via the taxes you pay"
          "But guaranteed I'll also give you lots of things you definitely don't want ( or need ) , which our lobbyists demand ,or which will line their pockets, via the same money taxpayer pit"

  • vorsprung on 23/02/2025 - 20:11
    +1

    It reads to me (and on the AFR) as though the proposed rebate doesn’t specifically require a WA made battery. Are there any WA made batteries?

    • Protractor on 23/02/2025 - 20:38
      +1

      I doubt it. WA specialises in converting rocks to smaller rocks or dust, and shipping it overseas.
      They're pretty good at converting forests to dust as well.

    • tenpercent on 23/02/2025 - 20:41

      If you were in WA you would know if there was a WA made battery. And if it was being made somewhere else in Australia there'd be uproar that those darn east coasters were getting WA money. They would sooner go with something made overseas than something made on the "east coast" (which includes SA and NT).

    • rsingh87 on 23/02/2025 - 22:43

      Yeah I think your right its any battery a 5k rebate and interest free loan

  • Protractor on 23/02/2025 - 22:04

    Cook would be better off putting the grant money to buying up rural land suitable for renewable projects. Starting with the most resistant electorates.Best way politically to deal with dinosaurs is to buy them out. They will put $$ before principles eventually. Then he gets a domino effect. The 'food on our plate' argument is moot. Modern farmers are industrial scale export land mangers not farmers.
    ( None of us eat 5000 Weetbix and 1500 loaves of bread a week.)

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