Albanese announces a $1Bn investment to establish a solar panel manufacturing "business" at/near the Liddell plant.
given a large number of well paid (some say over paid) mining and power station workers will soon be unemployed, its incumbent on govts concerned in the job losses which are responsible should do something to encourage new work opportunities. in some previous circumstances where job losses have been due to govt or business decisions. a prime example was the NSW govt injection of funds when BHP closed the steel furnaces and other plants at Newcastle in the 90s.
but this is something very different. this is an injection of funds into..... "an Australian-based solar company would come to Liddell to start manufacturing solar panels." ABC LINK
there is one solar panel manufacturer in Aus and that is Tindo (LINK), a tier 1 panel producer, based in SA. (no they aren't ASX listed). or will another company created specifically for this investment get the bucks?
many coal mines and electricity generators required govt funding, many were initially owned by govts. Menzies ensured the Snowy 1 and Tas hydroelectric was owned by fed govt and state govts.
regardless of ones personal opinion, this will be a large boost to a regional economy that is projected to suffer from the closure of the Liddell station. but will this employ redundant workers from Liddell? will those workers want to work at solar panel manufacturing?
many questions to be posed about this announcement. not so many answers as yet.
