Anthony Albanese flags ‘a future that’s made in Australia’
Anthony Albanese will launch a six-week Made-in-Australia pre-budget campaign in the NSW Hunter region, where he will unveil a $1bn solar panel manufacturing investment.
Anthony Albanese will launch a six-week Made-in-Australia pre-budget campaign in the coalmining Hunter region of NSW, where he will announce a $1bn investment in the Solar Sunshot program to claim a bigger stake in global solar manufacturing supply chains.
The Australian can reveal the Prime Minister is preparing to put significant money on the table in support of Labor’s net-zero transition plan ahead of the May 14 budget and next year’s federal election.
As Jim Chalmers and Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen finalise new clean energy incentives in the budget, Mr Albanese on Friday will travel to the former Liddell coal-fired power station and unveil $1bn in production subsidies and grants to ensure more solar panels are built in Australia and the Hunter.
After introducing legislation on Wednesday to establish a Net Zero Economy Authority and shield regional communities from energy transition pressures, Mr Albanese and senior ministers are preparing billions of dollars in funding packages to turbocharge renewables manufacturing.
The government’s net-zero legislation includes Fair Work Commission powers to compel any coal-fired power station operator that refuses to participate in Labor’s energy industry jobs plan to take part in it.
Labor’s clean energy push will stoke the energy and climate change wars ahead of Peter Dutton’s imminent release of a Coalition election policy anchored by a technology agnostic approach focused on zero-emissions nuclear power, gas, renewables and coal.
Despite Australia boasting the highest uptake of solar panels in the world – with one in three households installing panels – only 1 per cent of the panels were made in Australia.
Mr Albanese, who is travelling to the Hunter with Mr Bowen and Industry Minister Ed Husic, said “Australia should not be the last link in a global supply chain built on Australian invention”.
The Prime Minister, who earlier this month announced $1.1bn in grants and loans underwriting lithium and rare earths projects in Western Australia and the Northern Territory, said: “I want a future made in Australia and I want a future made in our regions.”
With Labor strategists concerned about holding ground in the Hunter and Meryl Swanson coming under pressure in the seat of Paterson, Mr Albanese is focused on reassuring traditional mining regions across the country that they will be supported.
“Places like the Hunter that have powered our nation for more than a century will power our future. We have every metal and critical mineral necessary to be a central player in the net zero transformation, and a proven track record as a reliable energy producer and exporter,” Mr Albanese said.
“We can also invest in strategic manufacturing capability, particularly in components critical to the energy and economic transition, like solar panels. Historically, Australia has been good at going from the mining pit to port, and long may this continue. But the Australian government will also invest in the path from pit to panels and capture more value for our economy and workforce.”
The Australian Renewable Energy Agency has been instructed to consult with industry to design a program assessing all aspects of the supply chain including ingots, wafers, cells, module assembly and related components such as solar glass and inverters.
NSW Climate Change Minister Penny Sharpe said the Minns government wanted “NSW households putting NSW-made solar panels on their roofs to deliver long-term energy bill savings and a strong domestic renewable manufacturing sector”.
Speaking in federal parliament on Wednesday, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister Patrick Gorman said the net-zero transition authority was focused on supporting “workers in closing coal-fired power stations and closing gas-fired generators, and their dependent suppliers, to transition directly to a new job”.
“Our largest coal-fired power stations are run by mature corporations. They often have strong plans in place to support their workforce as they prepare for closures. We expect many of them will put their hand up to participate in the Energy Industry Jobs Plan,” he said. “The bill provides the Fair Work Commission with powers to require their participation as a failsafe to make sure the transition is orderly. It enlivens enforceable obligations for those closing employers to provide transitional support to their employees, subject to operational requirements.”
Mr Bowen said Australian research “helped invent the modern solar panel” and the funding would ensure new jobs are created to manufacture them.
“We know that the world’s climate emergency is Australia’s jobs opportunity … $1bn to support Australian manufacturing in solar technology will help seize that opportunity,” he said.
Mr Husic – who oversees the $15bn National Reconstruction Fund to support clean energy projects and help slash emissions – said “solar panels were our idea”.
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