Strange equation; take the sunniest continent on earth, add a massive housing boom plus a former world leader in solar = COAL

In touring the electorate and knocking on doors, what has become abundantly clear to me is that we are currently trapped in a time warp. When discussing solar energy with a resident (you know that free power source), she questioned why you would not have roof tiles that were solar panels, rather than afix panels to the roof. Well Colleen Hartland (Greens MLC), informs me that in Germany (that sunny place in Central Europe) they now have roofing materials that are precisely that and are now removing house roofs and replacing them with solar roofs.

Imagine this for a moment, we are constructing 10,000 new residences in the electorate as we speak, if each one of them was a effectively a solar panel, feeding excess power into the grid they would be earning money. Because these roofs are expensive infrastructure they could be funded by the municipality / state, with the income generated repaying the infrastructure and when paid off, the proceeds going to the council for services. The net result, almost free power for residents, reduced rates for residents and reduced strain on the environment. An added bonus is the huge demand for panels which will support the new industry and research for the future to employ people displaced as the fossil fuel industry winds down.

Am I living in a dream world, its seems in Australia yes, however in Germany they are bringing this to a reality. I know we are all waiting to get the whole world to agree on how to tackle climate change before getting serious about it here. Think about that - get the whole world to agree - I'd rather watch the grass grow.

Meanwhile lets focus on reducing the costs of living for Australians now, lets focus on providing transport and education, with that focus, social problems will be reduced and environmental problems with them. Lets focus on new solutions to solve new problems.

Its what we do today that counts, not what we talk about doing tomorrow.