18 August 2016
Greens MP for Ballina, Tamara Smith has joined in condemning the plan by the Turnbull Government to strip more than $1 billion from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA).
Labor’s Shadow Treasurer Chris Bowen also failed to rule out passing the cut yesterday morning on RN Breakfast.
"Labor talks about clean-energy but is failing to back it up with any action and instead is refusing to commit to supporting ARENA. Stripping $1 billion in funding would leave emerging technologies with very few other places to go to get grants to test out their business ideas,” said Ms Smith.
"Why not cut the tens of billions in subsidies that fossil fuel companies receive? That would free up revenue to invest in clean-energy technologies. Clearly both the Government and Labor are more interested in keeping the political donations from fossil fuel companies flowing instead.”
"With extreme weather events and the decline of the Great Barrier Reef, now is the time to tackle global warming and to create tens of thousands of new jobs, through investing in new, clean technologies,” Ms Smith said.