As Jim Chalmers , the treasurer, comes under increasing pressure to fight inflation by slashing spending in the mid-year budget update, the drumbeat is loudest for cuts in one specific area: green energy subsidies for households.

Receiving the most focus is the cheaper home batteries program , which from July last year has offered a taxpayer-backed 30% rebate to households and businesses.

The scheme has become a victim of its own success. Treasury officials originally estimated it would lead to a million new batteries by 2030 at a cost of $2.3bn. The latest estimate is more than triple that figure, and only after a tweak to the policy.

Also in the crosshairs is the 2022 electric vehicle subsidy, which exempts workers from fringe benefits tax when they lease an EV through their employer and has proved more popular – and expensive – than predicted.

Despite reports that Treasury is pushing for cuts to the home battery scheme, the argument has hardly been made.

There is more than a whiff of politics to the…