The federal Treasury’s debunking of Anthony Albanese’s $1 billion taxpayer subsidy to build an Australian solar panel manufacturing industry that has no hope of competing against cheap Chinese imports ironically helps make the case for the budget’s 10-year production tax credits for critical minerals processing and hydrogen.

The Treasury’s 32-page “national interest framework” paper attempts to put some needed principles around the prime minister’s Future Made in Australia political slogan. Yes, China accounts for 85 per cent of the solar photovoltaic global supply chain after decades of subsidising the scale and expertise of its own industry.