Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is my pleasure to support Senator Macdonald in relation to the report of the Senate Standing Committee on the Environment, Communication and the Arts on the Save Our Solar (Solar Rebate Protection) Bill 2008 [No. 2] and to add to my remarks on this topic in this place. It has amazed me that the government members on this committee, the government overall and Mr Garrett in the other place the other day have sought to pretend that this means test has had absolutely no impact—in fact, not only to pretend that it has had no impact but to go further in some instances and argue it has had a positive impact. The government members serving on the Senate’s environment committee in their majority report stated:

... despite short-term concerns created by the budget decision, there has been no reduction in the desire of households to install photovoltaic systems, and no slowdown in the take-up of the rebates. The budget decision has not caused a dampening of demand for the services of the solar industry.

Mr Garrett has even gone further in some of his comments both in the other place and in the media, almost suggesting the means testing has had a positive impact on the industry, and that somehow by excluding more people from being eligible for a rebate will actually encourage more people into the market. Not only is the logic perverse, but it stands in total contrast to all of the evidence that was received during this inquiry. Some 157 submissions were received, overwhelmingly from individuals and small businesses—most had never participated in these types of parliamentary proceedings and chose to do so for the first time. And each and every one of them, barring the government submissions, reported negative impacts as a result of this decision. Let us look at a few of them. Blackmore’s Power and Water submission said:

Initially, I thought the means test wouldn’t deter families earning over $100,000, to continue to install solar power grid connect systems. However NOT one customer has installed or intends to install a system, that hasn’t applied for the $8000 government rebate.

They have not had one customer since the government introduced this means testing out of the blue on budget night. This is a business operator saying ‘not one customer’, despite the fact that government members wanted to conclude that there had been no reduction in the desire of households. Blackmore’s Power and Water had not had one customer who was ineligible for the rebate come forward. Sun Wise Electrics said:

The decision to means test the solar PV rebate has all but stopped my business in its tracks. Customer desire has almost disappeared over night.

…            …            …

I am currently considering what to do with my business as a result of the means test decision.

We have hundreds of examples of businesses like this all around the country who say that there has been a very definite and very deliberate impact on their business. Self Sufficiency Supplies Pty Ltd said:

I, and I speak for many small business owners in the industry, feel that whilst the signing of the Kyoto Protocol was a nice symbolic gesture, when it came to doing something that really made a difference, the Government not only failed to do something that kept the status quo, but have gutted a scheme that made a positive difference to ‘working families’, to our solar industry and to climate change.

These are real people in real small businesses who genuinely know about the impact of this government’s decision on their industry, the solar industry. It is quite remarkable that we see the government trying to turn a blind eye to these people and trying to suggest for some reason that in fact they are not actually being affected at all by this decision to means test. The impact has not only turned so many people away from the industry but has also seen a further perverse outcome, and that is that people are getting smaller systems installed. Smaller systems are now being installed for the same sized government grant.