Kate Lundy (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting for Industry and Innovation) Share this | Hansard source

A lower price means that the cost impact of the carbon price on households and industry is also projected to be lower from 2015. Key elements of the plan were designed to move in line with changes in the carbon price, and this remains the case. The government has taken the revised revenue estimates into account in making adjustments to the priority and timing of clean energy and related expenditure to ensure the Clean Energy Future package is budget neutral. These adjustments are modest.

But, in relation to ARENA, the government is fully committed to ARENA and to improving the competitiveness of renewable energy technologies in Australia. With over $3 billion of funding still available, the government has decided to re-profile a small portion of ARENA's funding to better fit with its investment plan and funding strategy on advice from the ARENA board. This re-profiling will extend funding for ARENA for an additional two years, until 2021-22.

We have also increased departmental funding for ARENA in 2013-14 to further bolster the organisation's capacity and ensure it has the appropriate staffing to deliver project investment. When ARENA was established, $200 million from the Education Investment Fund rounds for Solar Flagships was earmarked for investment in solar energy projects. The government has decided to reduce that allocation by $159.1 million. This funding is managed by the Department of Industry, Innovation, Climate Change, Science, Research and Tertiary Education and was never under ARENA's direct control. (Time expired)