The Greens have called out labour for "striking a dirty deal with the coalition" which could see $500 million cut from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency.
Labor have struck a deal worth $800 million over the next five years with the coalition which Federal Member for Newcastle, Sharon Claydon says has secured over 40 Newcastle-based positions at the National Solar Energy Centre in Mayfield West.
"This is great news for Newcastle, that we will be able to maintain world class serious research into renewable energy."
"I can assure, having met with some of the CSIRO people yesterday, they are very pleased to have some bipartisan support at long last around these critical issues of targets, financing, and the ARENA programs."
Greens Senator, Lee Rhiannon says the cuts highlight the Coalitions false commitment to innovation, and Labor's false commitment to clean energy.
"Labor have tried to put a good spin on what is a bad outcome for the renewable energy future," she says.
"Not only is this a brutal blow to clean energy investment, research and development across the country, it is a huge setback for regional communities...who benefit from projects like these.
There should have been no cuts to ARENA at a time where the urgency of climate change is becoming clearer every day."
ARENA was established in 2012 and it has delivered $1 billion dollars to 250 renewable energy projects, including a total of $268.4 million for large-scale solar projects.
The Greens will introduce an amendment to protect the entire $1.3 billion of ARENA funding.
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| Greens Senator Lee Rhiannon. Photo courtesy of Facebook. |
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| Federal Member for Newcastle Sharon Claydon. Photo courtesy of Facebook. |
