Labor candidate for Forde, Brett Raguse, said today that a Rudd Labor Government would double the funding for rebates to install solar panels across Australia to slash greenhouse gas emissions.

“Australia’s long-term prosperity will only be secured by tackling the threat of climate change. For too long, climate change sceptics have sat on their hands and ignored the warning signs. It is now time to act” Mr Raguse said.

Federal Labor’s Solar Home Power Plan will invest $50 million over four years to install solar power in Australian homes, schools and community buildings.

This practical plan will allow around 12,000 Australian households to install cleaner, greener power.

The plan will reduce greenhouse emissions by up to 16,800 tonnes a year. That is the equivalent of taking 4000 cars off the road for a full year.

Federal Labor will provide up to $4000 a household – about 25 per cent of the cost of a typical domestic solar power system – and is available to homeowners and builders.

Australian families are keen to access clean energy sources that will reduce our emissions and provide long-term benefits.

Mr Raguse said “Federal Labor’s Solar Home Power Plan is about developing fresh new approaches to climate change. Climate change is too important to ignore – because our nation’s future is at stake.”

The average domestic solar power system can generate a third of the typical household daily energy needs.

Solar power:

• Is the cleanest form of energy;
• Significantly reduces carbon dioxide emissions; and
• Will provide a source of cheap, renewable energy for the future.

Federal Labor’s Solar Home Power Plan will replace the current Photovoltaic Rebate Program (PRVP), doubling funding to $12.4 million a year, and help more Australian households become some of the most energy-efficient in the world.

The Howard Government has failed to maintain its solar scheme which will end in June 2007.

Federal Labor’s Solar Home Power Plan is the next chapter in Federal Labor’s comprehensive practical approach to dealing with climate change, which includes:

• Ratifying the Kyoto Protocol;
• Cutting Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions by 60 per cent by 2050;
• Setting up a national emission trading scheme;
• Setting up the $500 million national clean coal fund;
• A $500 million “Green Car Innovation Fund” designed to generate $2 billion in investment to secure jobs in the automotive industry and tackle climate change by manufacturing low emission vehicles in Australia;
• Substantially increasing the mandatory renewable energy target; and
• Convening a National Climate Change Summit.