Politicians just spout what their departments inform them to be...

Politicians just spout what their departments inform them to be the truth, as usual. The main problem for government is renewables kills many traditional older style jobs like thermal coal mining, and thermal coal power generation, this is a problem for government because it cuts taxation in a big way, and governments love their tax.

S.A. sees Telsa as the Mercedes of battery tech, which is only somewhat the case.

Personally I feel, for Australia, solar thermal was always the best option, followed by solar voltaic (solar panels have come a long way and are much cheaper), and the means to store, and deliver the electricity generated overnight, and on demand. This is where the battery storage comes in, a bunch of people are running around thinking it's a UPS for the grid, it is really not... it is there to smooth power delivery for peaking to prevent issues on the grid and save on paying peakers for generation and standby.

Lithium is actually not the best battery technology for large grid installations, it certainly works, doesn't involve any liquids, but it is very expensive, and a lot more complex, and does not like to be discharged below a certain value. I'd also build a shiny shed over it all, to try and mitigate some of the heat it is subjected to.

Vanadium redox batteries actually really shine there. For PowerWalls, and things Lithium does make sense.

In saying this however, I expect the lithium batteries themselves to fall in price over time, so when they are replaced in say, 8 years or so, in S.A. they _should_ be cheaper... There is no denying it was a publicity coup for Tesla and is bullish for Lithium however.