Lisa Singh (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Shadow Attorney General) Share this | Hansard source

Part of the government's so-called plan to tackle climate change deals with solar roofs, solar schools and solar town programs. On the face of it, you would think that the opposition would be supportive of the government's plan in that vein, because it was the former Labor government that was very innovative in its reforms around solar energy and the way in which solar power was encouraged and induced through its reforms and programs as part of the package of clean energy bills that went forward. Of course Labor supports solar energy. It supports solar power promoted through the use of small- and large-scale solar PV installation through a range of means, including the renewable energy target, which has, until now, had bipartisan support. I remember that Senator Birmingham was supportive of the renewable energy target, which had both small- and large-scale subtargets as well. We had the support of the then opposition for that particular part of the former Labor government's clean energy package, but unfortunately that is no longer the case. In relation to solar energy, which my questioning is about—which I will get to, Senator Birmingham—another component was to do with ARENA, the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, which also provides funding for new technologies and projects that provide large-scale—