Mark Furner (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Prior to my rising, one of the opposition senators was seeking a response on solar changes—solar roofs, Solar Schools and solar town programs. I am equally seeking some responses from Senator Birmingham with respect to the questions that were put to him on those particular issues. It is good to be in the chamber with two fellow senators from the Sunshine State that I think understand and appreciate the importance of solar powered energy. I can use one example: Chinchilla. When we were in government, in the state of Queensland we had a program with one of the largest solar powered energy areas in the town of Chinchilla, west of our capital, Brisbane, which has been canned by the Liberal-National Party in Queensland as a result of the inadequate position they take on climate change and solar powered energy.

I would like some response on how the modelling has been arranged with regard to selecting those particular towns for solar town programs. Is it going to be a case of some sort of cooperative, some sort of tripartisan arrangement with local councils, given that there are broad ranges of regional councils in Western Queensland? What is the arrangement that they will be successful in through the modelling? Would it be a tendering process or a case of granting an area that is considered relevant, subject to reaching solar powered arrangements through our far and great western areas of Queensland? Regarding the Solar Schools program, I would like some feedback and some answers on how the modelling is going to be conducted on the selection of schools, given that the state LNP government is now selling schools in Queensland as a result of their cuts in order to balance the books in Queensland. I would like some responses around those particular areas.

I would also like a response on funding and the selection of socioeconomic status areas. Is it going to be the case that we are going to examine areas such as parts of Logan? Are we going to look at housing commission areas? What is the criteria in the selection process with regard to particular areas of low socioeconomic status? Is it going to be a case of examining the wages of families in those areas? Is that the modelling that will be applied or are there other measures with respect to how those places are going to be selected?

Also, I would like some guarantees around how the sustainability of solar power will be continued with respect to the likes of the example I gave earlier, where state governments are going to shut down their solar powered energy programs. Is the partisan arrangement to be met? I am making an assumption here with regard to having arrangements with the state or local governments. Is the partisan arrangement going to be guaranteed or is it at the whim of a state government or a local council to decide whether the program is sustainable? Or is the federal government going to make some application that there are guarantees to ensure that the state government or local councils continue the arrangements to ensure that the programs are sustainable and will continue to supply energy to the power grids?

While we are at it, with regard to Direct Action as a whole, I would like some feedback in terms of the modelling done on the 20 million trees plantation process. What sorts of trees are going to be planted? Which areas are they going to be planted in? Are we looking at the eastern seaboard or the southern areas of our nation? Are we going to be looking at the types of trees for plantation? Are they going to be drought-proof, given that we are moving to a warmer environment and the climate is changing in areas? That side of the chamber, the government, does not accept the science with respect to climate change. I would like to have some understanding of what the government is intending to do—what types of trees it intends to plant among those 20 million—

Senator Gallacher interjecting—