So we are to build a factory to manufacture solar panels.
I think that is a good idea, but we have to build at a rate of 22,000
a day at least. Well that is what Min Bowen wants.
Can we make them as cheap as the Chinese ones ?
China makes them for a couple bowls of rice a day so to speak plus
the wages of the guards.
So will the government end up having to admit the plan is a failure
or introduce a tarrif, hmm wine tarrifs anyone ?
I think they have picked the VERY WRONG project to fund !

A solar panel factory of that magnitude requires up-front figures on the eventual disposal of their products & if recycling is not looking promising than the whole idea needs rethinking.
Solar panels are nearing past technology. In fact anything that produces more waste than actual useful product should be consigned to the waste paper basket.
Tarifs are what got us into the economic mess we're in now, helped of course by union demands for workers pay & bureaudroid salaries for nothing in return.

In a democratic, private enterprise country, government should not be involved in business enterprises of any kind.

Oh, hang on. Democratic, private enterprise country no longer describes Australian.

So true tnbn,
Did anyone else see the news item about the Solar Farm in Texas that
was totally destroyed by hail ?
The locals are now complaining that runoff from the site contains
dangerous chemicals and metals. The runoff is going straight into
the local water supply.
Didn't see it ? I did not see it on the ABC. It was on Sky News.
Why am I NOT surprised ?

Texas hail storm.... http://www.newsweek.com/thousands-solar-panels-texas-destroyed-hailstorm-1883546

This isn't about building panels. That ain't gunna happen due to the economics of the construction.

This is about shoring up electorates in the Hunter region that are being smashed by the eco-alarmist war on coal. Politics trumps all good economic management.

Although we can confidently expect that this venture will be as 'successful' </sarc> as Snowy 2.0, we can also confidently expect that there will be more than a few carpetbaggers lining up for their share of the $A1,000,000,000. And when it doesn't work out they'll just chuck another zero at it.