" I wonder why the sunniest parts of the continent (WA and NT) have such a dismal uptake of renewables?"
I think you will find that the uptake of solar panels has only started to take off in more recent years as the cost of the systems has come down while electricity cost are rising. I have read that the cost of solar systems have reached an equilibrium where they are some what stable for now.
Anyway some 30% of Australian houses have solar panels, I am in an older area in WA and apparently about 36-38% of home have solar panels. Driving past new estates more homes than not have solar panels.
" BTW WA only switched from coal to gas because the coal has pretty well run out."
Yes and no, there are issues with the owner of one of two coal mines.
However it raises the issue that fossil fuels are a finite resource, they are not renewable and will eventually run out. Who knows when but they will run out.
So with that in mind, that where renewable plays a part for the future. The more we adopt and use renewables, the less we rely on fossil fuels, the less we use and the longer we will have fossil fuels available to use
