The Smart Energy Council has been handed multiple contracts to oversee the Government’s $8.5 billion Cheaper Home Batteries Program, despite the Council being a major Labor donor.

The Smart Energy Council is a major Labor donor and has also pumped money into Net Zero lobby group Smart Voting Pty Ltd. According to the Australian Electoral Commission, the Council has made the following donations:

2024-25	ALP	$33,000
2023-24	ALP	$38,000
2021-22	Smart Voting Pty Ltd	$45,000
2021-22	ALP	$29,400
2020-21	ALP	$2,200
Total		$147,500

The Smart Energy Council is a major Labor donor, having donated more than $100,000 to the party since 2020. The Smart Energy Council also donated $45,000 to Smart Voting Pty Ltd prior to the 2022 election. Smart Voting Pty Ltd campaigned against Liberal Party members at the 2022 election.

The Smart Energy Council’s current CEO, David McElrea, was deputy chief of staff to senior Labor Minister Tanya Plibersek. McElrea was a director at the Australia Institute and an assistant secretary at the Union Voice union.

“Chris Bowen doesn’t understand what a conflict of interest is. The Smart Energy Council never donated to the Coalition, it never campaigned for the Coalition,” Mr Tehan said.

“They are now a partisan organisation. That is why it is a clear conflict of interest that they are supervising the home battery scheme.”

According to data from AusTender, the Smart Energy Council has been awarded plum contracts worth more than $1 million to conduct inspection services for Labor’s home battery program. Since August 2022, the Council has also signed contracts worth more than $3.2 million for solar auditing services.

According to the Clean Energy Regulator, as at 25 June 2026, 62 per cent of all inspected batteries have been found to be sub-standard. Despite more than 500,000 home batteries being installed, only 2,642 – less than 1 per cent – have been inspected.

Shadow Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction Dan Tehan said Chris Bowen had serious questions to answer.

“The Smart Energy Council has become a partisan organisation that receives significant funding from the Labor government and is a significant donor to the Labor Party.”

“The Council has been donating to Labor on the one hand, and been given lucrative government contracts on the other.

The Smart Energy Council is a business name of the registered charity Australian Solar Energy Society Ltd that has also received almost half a million dollars of contracts from Austrade.

Australian Solar Energy Society Ltd has been awarded seven contracts since November 2024 worth $473,156 for promotional activities including to help advance Bangladesh’s renewable revolution and to support an energy expo in Beijing.

“It is unacceptable for the Smart Energy Council, who are big Labor donors, to have a key safety role in the rollout of the home batteries program,” Mr Tehan said.

Chris Bowen has to recognise that the conflict arises because of the donations and the campaigning for the Labor Party.

“I repeat my call for the establishment of a comprehensive safety audit into Labor’s home battery program.”

In July, the ACCC issued a scathing assessment of the program, finding that there were “gaps in the current suite of consumer protections” for the scheme.

ENDS

Media contact: Phil Connole M | 0417 063 605