Sun sets on real green jobs while politicians fiddle

In the wake of the federal government’s 50,000 green jobs announcement, Conergy, a global leader in the manufacture and distribution of renewable energy systems, is reminding Australians that there are real green jobs in the solar industry crying out for the promised support of our elected politicians.

“They don’t need to announce manufactured green jobs — our industry has real, long-term and meaningful jobs that only require the certainty promised by both major parties,” Rodger Meads, Conergy’s Managing Director, said.

“Our federal politicians just seem to be blaming each other again — leaving the renewable energy sector, and the average Australian, to play the role of collateral damage.

“Our request is very simple: free the Renewable Energy Target legislation which contains the ‘Solar Credits’ program from the ETS — and pass it, as soon as Parliament resumes on August 11th,” Meads said.

“The solar industry simply cannot afford to wait for the inevitable delays, bickering and political blamestorming that the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) legislation is set to deliver.”

Conergy believes that the Rudd government’s announcement of 50,000 green jobs, while noble in theory, is yet another example of policy on the run and makes little sense against the backdrop of the looming debacle and job losses for solar workers.

“Over the last 18 months, our industry has seen a means test imposed with no warning, a scrapping of this scheme altogether with only 6 hours' notice, a scrapping of the regional solar program and a lot of promises about this Solar Credits program which have still failed to materialise,” Meads said.

“You might understand why our industry is so suspect of politicians making good on their promises and are so sceptical when we hear so much about support for supposed green jobs.

“A detailed survey we conducted with solar dealers and installers across the country makes it clear that this government and the Opposition are pushing us towards real trouble, which will amount to job losses and businesses closing. The general consensus is that we have one month to six weeks before this starts to unfold,” Meads said.