Anthony Albanese announces Solar SunShot manufacturing program...

Anthony Albanese announces Solar SunShot manufacturing program to boost Australian production

The prime minister will travel to coal mining heartland in the New South Wales Hunter Valley today to announce a $1 billion program that aims to boost the number of solar panels made in Australia.One in three Australian households have solar panels, the highest rate in the world, but only 1 per cent of them are manufactured locally.

The federal government hopes to change that with its new Solar SunShot program, which will oversee production subsidies and grants to increase Australia's role in the global solar manufacturing supply chain.Mr Albanese told ABC Radio Newcastle that the site of the closed Liddell Power Station near Muswellbrook would be developed as a solar manufacturing hub."Liddell, of course, helped to power New South Wales for a long period of time in the last century and into this one," he said."Now, the production that will occur there will help power New South Wales and Australia, and potentially have export potential as well."He said the program was being started in the NSW Hunter region to make sure coal-communities such as Muswellbrook and Singleton weren't left behind as mines and power stations shut down in the coming decades."There are other planned closures in the future ... [it is important] that we look for opportunities that workers continue to be employed in alternative, high-paying secure jobs," Mr Albanese said.

"That is what we are about using industry policy, particularly when it comes to manufacturing, because we want a future made here in Australia."Major investmentAnthony Albanese said a majority of the billion-dollar commitment would be used on the transformation of Liddell, with the rest of the funding available to other projects."This is the largest announcement of its type that has been made in Australia's history because the Liddell site, I can't think of one that is more important," Mr Albanese said.He said an Australian-based solar company would come to Liddell to start manufacturing solar panels.He said the government was looking at creating more jobs than were previously at Liddell when it was operating as a coal-fired power station."So we're looking at hundreds of jobs being created, but the flow on impact as well for the region," he said.Welcome boostHunter Business Chamber chief executive Bob Hawes said he was pleased the government had announced the plan within the first year of Liddell's closure.