Senate backs jobs, investment and renewable energy in SA – Liberals oppose

The Senate has passed a motion calling on the government to support renewable energy in South Australia and protect thousands of jobs by backing the Renewable Energy Target in full.

"South Australia is leading the way on renewables, with billions already invested in wind and solar, but the Abbot government is putting that at risk," Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.

"Scrapping or winding back the RET will be devastating for South Australia.

"The Senate backed our motion, calling on the Abbott government to recommit to the RET, like they promised they would before the election.

"Disappointingly the Liberal Party voted against it.

"The renewables industry needs certainty if it's going to deliver the thousands of potential jobs that are coming to our state.

"Multiple projects have already been shelved because of the government's RET review. How many  more businesses will the Abbott government jeopardise, how many more jobs will they put in danger, before they commit to the RET like they promised they would before the election?"

Media Contact: Noah Schultz-Byard 0427 604 760

*The motion, as passed by the Senate, read;

Senator Hanson-Young moves that the Senate-

(a) acknowledges the positive role that South Australian wind, solar and other clean renewable energy projects have had in creating jobs, supporting local economies and ensuring a sustainable energy future for the nation;

(b) recognises that:

(i) the move towards renewable energy in South Australia has created thousands of jobs and pushed down wholesale power prices, without creating supply problems, and

(ii) the following projects, which have all been put at risk by the release of the Government's Warburton Review, would see billions of dollars invested in the South Australian economy and create more than a thousand jobs:

(A) Senvion Australia's Ceres wind farm on South Australia's Yorke Peninsula, which would invest $1.5 billion into the economy and create more than 500 jobs,

(B) lnfigen Energy's Woakwine wind farm in South Australia's south-east, which would see more than 150 jobs created, and

(C) Pacific Hydro's Kyneton wind farm in the South Australian riverland, which would see more than 500 jobs created; and

(c) calls on the Government to give the South Australian renewable energy industry the confidence and certainty that it needs by recommitting to the full Renewable Energy Target.