: It’s popped already, a little story pre-empting the fact that our Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, is heading to the former coal fired Liddell power station site right here in the Hunter to make an announcement about our nation’s solar panel industry and he’s with us now. Good morning, PM.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good morning. Good to be with you again.
WILKS: You too. What time will you be there?
PRIME MINISTER: I’ll be there mid morning. I’m still in Canberra at this stage, but I’ll be flying up to the Upper Hunter and really looking forward to it. Look, this is such an exciting announcement. A billion dollar program, Solar Sunshot, to make sure that we actually make solar panels here. I want a future made in Australia. And there is nothing more important, when you look at the fact that one in three Australian households have solar panels, we have the highest uptake in the world, but only one per cent of those are made here in Australia, even though we’ve been responsible for so much of the innovation. And the solar panels that will be made at Liddell will be the most efficient in the world, bar none. And that is why this is such an exciting announcement for employment, for the economy of the Hunter and indeed for the nation. Because a country that makes more things itself is a more resilient country, has more national security, not just a stronger national economy.
WILKS: When you say they’re going to be superior, what will our panels that will be made at Liddell, why will they be superior to what’s already out there that people have on their homes now?
PRIME MINISTER: They’re basically more efficient. What they’ve done is go through in an innovative way and looked at how much of the sun’s rays, essentially that power, that energy is captured and then transmitted. What these solar panels do that have been developed here in Australia through use of copper and the way that they are structured is to just make them more efficient. And when you have just a couple of percentage increase in efficiency, that represents a massive leap in terms of the energy produced, the savings that are made, the economic benefit, essentially, of each solar panel. And that’s why they’ll be very attractive in the Australian market. We want Australia to be a renewable energy superpower. We have the best solar resources in the world up in our sky, and we are very good at making things. And there’s nowhere that’s better than the Hunter region at doing that. And that is why this will be the first and a significant amount of the $1 billion of funds that were allocated for the national Solar Sunshot program, will go there to Liddell to make sure that it creates jobs for generations of people in the Hunter.
WILKS: PM, how long between you making this announcement for the investment and when we see those first solar panels roll off and be available commercially?
PRIME MINISTER: Look, it will be pretty quick. We’re confident about the technology. The solar panels are currently produced at a site in Sydney, but it’s largely demonstration, if you like. It’s not at scale. You need that at scale to improve the economic output of manufacturing. And so this company had a choice of either staying in Australia with government support or moving offshore. And we want to make sure that solar panels are produced here. We, as I said, have the highest uptake in the world. We know that this is very much a part of the future. And the Solar Sunshot program, what it will do is provide production subsidies and grants. It will make an enormous difference and make sure that the Hunter continues to be a major player in energy.
WILKS: So, again, when will we see those first panels? Do you know yet, or I’m not putting you on the spot, I just, I’m just curious, do you know, will it be three years, five years?
PRIME MINISTER: Oh, look, it will be soon. ARENA will work with the renewable energy agency, will work with the company to make sure this is up and running, because we know that the benefits of this will be substantial. So, I would expect there to be jobs there during our next term, which will start, of course, in 2025.
WILKS: You know what, we put up online this morning a little poll with our listeners about their satisfaction with their solar panels currently. And you can go into how many kilowatts they’ve got sitting on their roofs. And, you know, a lot of people don’t understand that still. And a lot of people actually were coming back to us saying they’re not as efficient as they were hoping. They’re still paying their bills. Are those people that have already got them, are they going to be getting a better product? And will they be then left behind if they’ve already invested so much money in putting what we currently have available to us, and we see these new ones rolling off, will there be a bit of, oh, God, I wish I’d waited?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, technology gets better. We know that that’s the case. Whether it’s the phone I’m talking to you on, or whether it be other products in our houses. And that’s the thing about solar is, 20 years ago, solar wasn’t the cheapest form of new energy. It is today, by a long way. And that’s why producing these most efficient solar panels in the world here in Australia will be a good thing.
WILKS: Ok, well look, we look forward to the announcement. Anything for manufacturing in Australia. Anything for jobs and efficiency and getting those bills down that we so desperately need. Before I let you go though, Easter, are you doing an Easter egg hunt?
PRIME MINISTER: Look, I may well, I’ll be in Canberra over Easter. Parliament’s been sitting the last couple of weeks, so I haven’t turned my attention to Easter. I’m up in the Hunter today and we will also have a couple of announcements today in the Hunter, of which this is, of course, the biggie.
WILKS: All right, well, happy Easter, PM. Have a lovely, safe weekend. Enjoy the choccy and happy to talk to you anytime you’ve got gifts for us. So, thanks so much.
PRIME MINISTER: Absolutely. Happy Easter to everyone.
