The Australian Conservation Foundation has welcomed the announcement of the Albanese government’s $1bn Solar SunShot program to help Australia become a serious player in global solar manufacturing.
Through support, production subsidies and grants, the program will result in more solar panels being made in Australia, including in the Hunter Region.
“ACF welcomes the news that the Albanese government is getting on with the job of decarbonising our economy and establishing Australia as a serious renewable energy player,” said ACF’s climate and clean energy campaigner Ella Factor.
“Powering Australia with sunshine, harnessed by Australian-made solar panels, is an important step towards decarbonising our energy systems.
“The Solar Sunshot program is an ambitious and essential investment in the industries of Australia’s future.
“Yesterday the government put forward legislation to set up the Net Zero Authority, providing the architecture for critical programs like this to be rolled out across regions that have been dependent on old, polluting coal and gas industries.
“The world’s top scientists have been clear the pathway to a safe climate is by accelerating the uptake of renewables and rapidly getting off fossil fuels. Australia’s coal and gas exports are fuelling climate damage right now, with devastating impacts for people, places and wildlife.
“Programs like Solar Sunshot chart a course for Australia to future-proof its economy by becoming a world leader in renewable know-how and making things with renewables.”
ACF, along with a coalition of peak bodies including the Business Council of Australia and ACTU, has long called for greater investment in Australia’s green energy manufacturing and export capabilities through the Sunshot initiative.
