Simon Crean (Hotham, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Regional Australia, Regional Development and Local Government) Share this | Hansard source

because over there I visited sites in which they too are looking to investment in solar energy and in rare earths, because it is the rare earths that become the ingredients and components for so much lightweight material and technology—Australian technology that is there with the solar energy. It is the same on the Eyre Peninsula, in the same seat, where they are looking at increasing their wind farm capacity, and it is the same in the upper Spencer Gulf. In Tasmania—and I have great confidence in the ability of the Tasmanian economy—there is a $100 million positive impact of the carbon price.

Treasury has said that in renewable energy alone there is $100 billion of investment in renewables in this country for the taking. Take the words of Investec: if it is not viable under current economic conditions, it will only become viable with the passage of this package. The truth is that that investment, those jobs and that cleaner environment are dependent on the package. We as a government are committed to delivering it, and it is only those who sit opposite that will run the fear campaign—

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