Greens announce plan to cut Tasmanian farm power bills with clean energy

Senator Whish-Wilson and Brad Ashlin from Top-Qual Calthorpe Orchards

The Australian Greens’ plan to lower on-farm energy bills would help farmers in Tasmania, said Senator Peter Whish-Wilson today on his visit to award winning Top-Qual Calthorpe orchard in the Tamar Valley.

“Our plan would lower on-farm energy bills with $100 million in grants for energy-intensive farms to upgrade equipment for maximum efficiency or to install renewable energy,” Senator Whish-Wilson said.

“Horticulturalists in Tasmania rely on cool storage and high energy usage and they need help on the farm to upgrade their equipment to save money and become more efficient.

“Tasmania is known internationally for premium horticulture with well over 600 businesses including over 100 fruit growers and more than 400 dairy farms which could benefit from these grants.

“Any farmer would support an initiative that reduces their costs and does something positive for the environment at the same time, it just makes sense,” said Australian Fruit Grower of the Year, Brad Ashlin from Top-Qual Calthorpe Pty Ltd.

“I think all farmers have a green tinge and it’s important for our clean, green image that we run our businesses on the best available sustainable practices, including looking at clean energy and efficiency,” Mr. Ashlin concluded.

Senator Whish-Wilson recently released a 20 year economic vision for Tasmania that highlighted the potential to create thousands of new jobs and increased investment in the state’s clean technology sector. The Clean Energy Council’s Clean Energy Australia Report 2010 forecasts the number of renewable energy jobs in Tasmania to grow from 737 in 2010 to approximately 3007 full time jobs by 2020. The Greens have already helped deliver over $10 billion of investment in the industry through the Clean Energy Finance Corporation.

“These grants would make our Tasmanian farmers, who operate in a tough environment against the rise of cheap imports, more competitive on the global market as we move towards a future where we leverage our strengths in differentiated, high-quality exports across a more diversified sector,” Senator Whish-Wilson continued.

“The Greens continue to take the lead in recognising the potential for renewable energy and energy efficiency to help farmers lower their costs and increase their business sustainability,” Senator Whish-Wilson concluded.

You can read the full plan at http://greens.org.au/farm-energy.
Senator Peter Whish-Wilson Australian Greens Senator for Tasmania