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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-04-07 Daily Xml
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SOLAR PANEL REBATE

Mr WILLIAMS (MacKillop) (14:59): I am delighted to direct my question to the Treasurer. Has your government refused solar panel rebates to pensioners who live in retirement villages because they do not own the land?

A letter from a retired couple who live in a transportable home in the Highview Holiday Village at Ardrossan states that their application for a rebate on solar panels installed on their home was rejected. The reason given by the government agency for the rejection was that, even though they owned the transportable home, they could not get the rebate because they did not own the land. Did you hear that, Treasurer? If you do not own the land you do not own the building?

Members interjecting:

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.D. RANN (Ramsay—Premier, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Social Inclusion, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Sustainability and Climate Change) (15:00): The Leader of the Opposition, when he gets red-faced and constantly looks up at the cameras, shows an insecurity, maybe even a lack of self-esteem.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.D. RANN: I am very happy to answer questions about renewable energy because the fact of the matter is that, whilst we have 8 per cent of the population of Australia, we have 58 per cent of the wind power of Australia—more than all the other states put together—and we also have over 30 per cent, I am told, of the solar power in people's homes. So, we have the greatest take-up by households of solar power in the nation.

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. M.D. RANN: Yes, it is the answer to the question; because, in order to benefit everyone, we have passed feed-in laws that pay people double for the power they put back into the grid. That is the best possible incentive. This parliament supported it, and it benefits those people who are part of the grid and feed back into the grid. That is the first feed-in law in Australia, and also it has helped produce the greatest take-up of the use of solar panels in Australia. So, for the Liberals, who do not give a damn about renewable energy, to criticise it beggars belief.

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