greens to kickstart clean energy sector

It was terrific to join with Victorian Senate candidate Dr Richard Di Natale, out in Gippsland, as he called for the implementation of a Gross National Feed-In Tariff to kick-start the renewable energy sector in regional Victoria.

Research by Access Economics and the Electrical Trades Union has shown that a gross national feed-in tariff would lead to the creation of an additional 5,400 jobs in Victoria, particularly regional Victoria, over the next ten years.

It makes good sense, it's good for the economy, good for the environment, good for regional Victoria.

Pictured left to right: Malcolm McKelvie – candidate for McMillan, Dr Richard di Natale – senate candidate for Victoria, Michael Bond – candidate for Gippsland, Sarah Hanson-Young – Greens Senator and Samantha Dunn – candidate for Eastern Victoria (state), in front of Hazelwood Power Station, the developed world's most polluting power station. Victoria's greenhouse gas emissions from power generation are continuing to grow due to our ongoing reliance on brown coal.

Over 22 thousand jobs could be created in Australia over the next 10 years in the renewables sector if we implemented a gross national feed-in tariff.

For Victoria and in particular regional Victoria, this would translate to around 5,400 extra jobs over the next 10 years.

Renewable energy employs on average 4-6 times as many people than fossil fuel energy and most of these jobs would be in regional areas.

"So far, Federal Government initiatives have failed to stimulate the market and keep solar manufacturers within Australia. Australia's last solar manufacturer left Australian shores in April 2009. There was a time when the majority of our panels were Australian-made but now all our solar panels are imported," said Greens senate candidate, Richard di Natale.

• According to a report produced by Sustainability Victoria for the Victorian Government, a gross feed-in tariff set at 40 cents per kWh with a cap of 200,000 units would lead to $2.1 billion in investment and would generate 3,000 new jobs in Victoria by 2015. This would increase retail electricity prices by just 1%, equating to an increase of 17 cents per week for Victorian electricity consumers.

• At 60 cents per kWh, a gross feed-in tariff would generate 5,400 new jobs within Victoria in the next ten years.

• According to Access Economics, "the cumulative employment in the solar industry in Australia delivered from a gross national feed-in tariff from 2010 to 2020 is just under 40,300, compared with a cumulative 17,750 under the existing set of feed-in tariff policies. This amounts to an increase of 22,550 jobs for the forecast period."

• For Victoria, employment peaks at just below 500 per annum under existing policies, whereas under a gross state feed-in tariff, employment would peak at just under 1,200 per annum. When aggregated across the period 2010 to 2020, the existing feed-in tariff and solar credits will create around 4,200 jobs in Victoria, compared with 9,600 created by the joint operation of a gross state feed-in tariff and the solar credits scheme.