Christine Milne (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts, Senator Wong. Regarding applications for the rooftop photovoltaic rebate, can the minister tell the Senate how many applications have been received since the means test was introduced in the budget? How does this number compare with the monthly numbers in the three months prior to the budget?

Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary Assisting the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

A very good question.

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change and Water) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I note yet again Senator Ian Macdonald’s support for an Australian Greens question. It is an interesting alliance that seems to be forming across the chamber, but anyway that is an issue that both of those parties can deal with.

Senator Milne, through you, Mr President, this issue has been canvassed at some length in estimates hearings and I think I gave some answers in that context. The Senate would be aware that the government has changed its approach to eligibility for the Solar Homes and Communities Plan, but we are delivering a total commitment of $150 million, which remains unchanged. In fact, I remind the chamber that the government has in fact brought forward $25.6 million in this budget for this plan to achieve in three years what the previous government set out to achieve in five.

Senator, through you, Mr President, I do not have the specific information that you are seeking. What I can say to her, Mr President, is that I understand that Minister Garrett has indicated that demand for this program will be monitored. I will, again, make points about this issue. Notwithstanding the concern that some have raised about this means testing, I make the point that the government, in the context of a fiscally responsible budget, did have to make some decisions about where to prioritise its expenditure and the focus, in terms of this program, is on those families who can least afford this investment. So obviously the commitment is to focus the expenditure on those families who are least able to afford it.

I again remind the Senate, in terms of support for renewable energy, that this government was elected with a set of commitments that no previous government was prepared to make in terms of support for renewable energy—something you on the other side never did—with a 20 per cent renewable energy target—you never did it—

Alan Ferguson (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Please address your remarks through the chair, Senator Wong.

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change and Water) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes, through the chair, Mr President. There is an investment of $500 million—half a billion dollars—in a renewable energy fund—again, something the opposition in government never did. So this decision does occur against the backdrop of very substantial government investment in renewable energy.

Bob Brown (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I rise on a point of order. The question was about the number of rebates in the three months before the government changed policy and since then. The minister has indicated that the minister for the environment was monitoring the situation, so I would expect that we would get an answer on that discrete question: if not on the volume since, then what was it in the three months leading up to that, and can the minister comment on any changes? She should be explicitly answering that very easy question to answer.

Alan Ferguson (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Brown, I cannot order the minister to explicitly answer the question. The minister can answer the question in the manner she chooses as long as she is relevant, and I do believe she is still relevant.

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change and Water) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Through you, Mr President: as I have said, I do not have to hand the specific details of what has occurred since the policy was announced. What I am putting to the chamber on this issue is the range of programs associated with renewable energy and our specific response on this program, which is that we are meeting in full our commitment to funding this program; we are prioritising it in relation to those families and households who most need it.

Christine Milne (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. I note that the minister does not have the data and nor did she promise to provide it. Given that the data on photovoltaic rebates used to be on the public record and was published regularly on the website of the Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, can the minister explain why this information is no longer publicly available? Has the government decided to keep this information secret to avoid further embarrassment because of the introduction of the means test? Has the department been told not to make this information available? If so, who made the decision for secrecy and if the decision has not been made to make it a secret, when will it go up on the department’s website?

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change and Water) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Certainly, I will seek some advice as to the provision of that information—

Bob Brown (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Bob Brown interjecting—

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change and Water) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am sorry, Senator Brown?

Alan Ferguson (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order!

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change and Water) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Okay, I will not take the interjection. I will seek advice on the issue raised. I again make the point, unlike the opposition, that we are not in the business of defending paying taxpayer’s money to millionaires to install solar panels. We are on this side of that debate.