LOXTON local Colleen Heaney was part of a delegation in Canberra in one of the final sitting weeks before the Federal Election. 
She is a member of ‘1 Million Women’ (1MW), a global women’s climate movement with over 80,000 supporters, led by Australian founder, Natalie Isaacs. 
The 1MW group inspires everyday lifestyle changes that contribute to addressing climate crisis concerns. 
The delegation was focused on advocating for electrification of one million homes across Australia. That is 10 per cent of all Australian homes by 2028.
Ms Heaney said the group of 23 women, from all around Australia and from all walks of life, met with over 20 MPs and senators from all parties to talk about cost-of-living issues in relation to running their homes. 
Ms Heaney was the sole South Australian representative. 
“Our message was on encouraging multi-partisan support to improve and provide affordable access to everyday households, including rentals and low-income households, for solar panels, batteries and heat pumps,” she said. 
“We had women tell their stories about energy bills being slashed because of their changes to solar. We had other women saying how difficult it was for them because they rented, or didn’t have the financial means to access these cost-saving measures.
“All politicians had solar energy themselves so were open to our stories and ideas. When I came home I started a conversation on Riverland Forum, on Facebook, to see where people here were at, and what I could do to improve my own household electrification.” 
Ms Heaney said “as a country we already have the technology available to bring carbon emissions down (and) our politicians, from whatever party, can help by ensuring affordable access for everyone”.
“There was a great deal of interest and many ideas,” she said.
“The people who are self sufficient already were so positive and helpful. 
“In the future, I want to see that having solar and battery power will be like having running water in your house. I hope that it will be a given. 
“1MW Household Electrification is a positive, solutions-based initiative.”
Ms Heaney said increased support was needed to help local households through the initial set-up costs of renewable energy sources. 
“My husband and I were lucky enough to be able to afford to put up solar panels in the very early days but haven’t had the need to put in a battery as we are on a high solar feed-in tariff until 2028, although it would be handy to have the independence to switch over when there is a power outage,” she said. 
“We are now looking at putting a pump hot water heater in to reduce the power needed to heat hot water for our house. I understand that the upfront cost for so many people is out of reach, or impossible to do if you are renting and that’s another area to look at, so that is where the government can help.
“Sharing our personal stories gives politicians an idea of what it’s really like for ordinary Australians and I encourage all in the Riverland to share their stories so that politicians can hear their voices. 
“Together we can make a difference.”