Thu, 15th May 2008

Lights go out on solar sales

The Hon Greg Hunt MP
Shadow Minister for Climate Change, Environment and Urban Water

Since Tuesday night’s Budget solar energy small businesses are reporting significant cancellations of solar panel contracts.

Indeed, these companies are now warning of job losses and fears about their viability, after customers learnt they faced paying an extra $8,000 for solar panels in their homes.

The Rudd Government has broken an election promise by taking away the Coalition’s $8,000 solar homes rebate from any household earning a combined income over $100,000.

This means mums and dads on $51,000 each have now been told they’ll have to pay the full cost of installing solar panels, which often cost $12,000 - $20,000.

I have today held discussions with a number of companies who tell me that many people have starting cancelling their orders for solar panels on their homes.

One company told me of losing orders in excess of $1 million since Labor’s Budget came down. They have predicted they will lose half of their entire outstanding orders in urban areas and that new orders will drop by 50 per cent. This can only have an adverse impact on jobs.

Kevin Rudd said that climate change was the great moral challenge of our age. Last year he visited Canberra solar company, Solartec, to try to talk up his solar credentials. But the company’s Phil May has said: We're getting cancellations … We've had people ring up and basically pull the plug. He said the jobs of two of his five staff were now in doubt.

Another company, Energy Matters, has also warned that the loss of the rebate would wipe out most of their solar-panel sales, with over 30 contracts already cancelled and another 20 in doubt.

It is clear Mr Rudd’s Budget will turn off the lights on small businesses which are committed to helping average Australians to cut their greenhouse gas emissions.

Mums and Dads earning $51,000 each are not “rich”. But they are being punished for trying to help the environment by a Government which used the environment for political gain.

So we have a broken promise, we have solar companies hurt, jobs likely to be lost, and greenhouse gas emissions increased.

Mr Garrett must fix this mess before he smashes up the very small business sector which he vowed to encourage.