Tuesday, 13 August 2019

Solar Homes package

Dr READ (Brunswick) (19:12): (882) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change and Minister for Solar Homes, and the action I seek is a restructure of the Solar Homes program to enable greater reductions in greenhouse emissions by installing more solar panels more cost-effectively.

Average annual rainfall across Victoria has declined by 100 to 600 millimetres in the past 50 years. Bushfires are starting earlier in spring and burning later in autumn, and they are burning hotter. Droughts and fires are costing us dearly and will steadily erode state budgets in the years to come as temperatures rise. We face a climate emergency, yet we burn over a million tonnes of coal a week. We do not talk about it much, but that is creating about half of the state’s greenhouse emissions.

The Labor government have trumpeted their Solar Homes program as their flagship response to climate change. We need renewable energy to replace coal power, so the Solar Homes program is vital, but the community needs to see we are getting the greatest possible emission reductions for every dollar we spend. Losing community confidence in renewable energy and climate action will set us back for years, so it must not fail. The program stopped in April, resumed in July for three days and then in August subsidies ran out in under 2 hours. The government has a responsibility to future generations to get this right.

Industry groups say buyers are choosing to wait, putting installers out of work. Some installers have contacted me, saying they are laying off staff, and some are going out of business. The current ration of generous subsidies appears to be doing more harm than good to the industry and to have been inadvertently suppressing installations since April. Clearly there is a demand for solar panels and the government needs to respond to community demand for ambitious climate action. So bring forward some of the spending planned for future years, increase the number of rebates, and if it is too expensive, consider reducing the size of the rebates and/or tightening the means test. Or purchase some panels for schools and public housing as well, to create work and cut power bills for those who need it most.

It will cost money, but inaction will cost more. Think of the cost of doing too little, too late to fight global heating and think of the effects on farms, forests, fisheries, foreshores and future generations, and investing in the Solar Homes program sounds like more than a bargain; it sounds essential.