So the labor government has stated it wants to support Australia's critical mineral industry by creating incentives to enable downstream processing of those minerals. It recently also stated it wants to provide incentives for installation of home batteries specifically to aid with the cost of living.
What might it look like if these two concepts became one? Australia could create the manufacturing base for said batteries creating jobs and industry capable of manufacture while supporting R&D and moving the processing of Australia critical minerals downstream. Those batteries could be sold locally at reduced or at least cost price while also creating an export opportunity.
Yes, it would be difficult to compete with the existing manufacturing powerhouses (China, Korea, Vietnam et al) but it creates local jobs, keeps Australia tax money on shore, creates an in-demand industry, accelerates tech development, supports our local knowledge industries (universities/TAFES etc) and supports the mining industry. The most relevant being that it keeps Australians' tax money on shore and opens an export avenue while reducing reliance on external trading partners.
I haven't thought through costs but as of 2020, there were 2.7m houses with rooftop PV systems. Based on $4000 incentives per battery installation, the back of napkin cost to Australian tax payers would be AUD$10,800,000,000 which would only go to support imported batteries likely from Asia and do nothing to support local industries.
Anyone with any thoughts why this concept would not work?
