Labor, Greens deplore renewables shutdown

LABOR and the Greens have attacked the planned abolition of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency.

LABOR and the Greens have attacked the planned abolition of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, warning it will undermine innovation and the development of new technologies.

And the renewable energy industry warned yesterday that the decision would see companies in the sector move overseas, taking with them jobs and billions of dollars of investment.

The agency is set to be scrapped in today’s budget, with the government saying it will book a saving of $1.3 billion. The axing would put the future of up to four major renewables projects under a cloud.

Opposition energy spokesman Gary Gray said to properly and responsibly implement the direct action plan, the government needed public-sector capability of the kind the agency provided.

However, a final decision on whether Labor would oppose the measure would be made by shadow cabinet.

Clean Energy Council deputy chief executive Kane Thornton said the agency drove innovation “and the development of exciting new energy technologies like large-scale solar, geothermal and ocean energy’’. “Closing it down would see many of the companies in those areas pack up and go overseas,’’ he said.