Australia’s Tony Abbott Rejects Solar Panels, Cites Security Concerns
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has rejected a gift of solar panels offered by a Christian group that ran a crowdfunding campaign late 2014, citing security concerns as a primary reason.
In December last year we covered the news that the Christian group Common Grace were raising funds for the purchase of solar panels and the cost of installation for Kirribilli House, the traditional residence for Australia’s Prime Minister.
Common Grace is the name of the interdenominational group, bringing together Christians from across Australia “who are passionate about Jesus & justice.”
According to the crowdfunding page, a total of $5,720 was raised, enough “to purchase a full kit of 12 state of the art solar panels with a contribution to installations.”
However, by way of a letter from the Hon. Michael McCormack MP, Common Grace was informed last week that the Government would be rejecting the gift, citing Kirribilli’s heritage listing status, ongoing costs of cleaning and maintenance, and security concerns (whatever they may be).
In an open letter on their website, Common Grace were understandably “disappointed that the Government has rejected the gift of solar panels for Kirribilli House.” However, they are not taking the slight lying down, addressing each of the aforementioned “concerns”.
Each of the three concerns raised in the letter are addressed, citing over 30 heritage listed buildings throughout the City of Sydney with over 5,500 installed solar panels; the lack of cleaning needed for such solar panels; and a reminder that US President Carter “managed to get solar panels installed on the White House way back in 1979.”
“Obviously this is a disappointing response, although not wholly surprising given our current government’s general priorities around investing in renewables,” Common Grace wrote — now it will be interesting to see whether common sense and facts are able to stand up to the Liberal Government’s biased-opinions.
I’ve signed the open letter, and if you’d like to join me, follow the link.
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solar is cheap as it is today and will get cheaper.
will make more money than coal gas revenues added together.
but as this item proves
Australians dont want Solar even if they can get it for free.
and they vote for it.
this is a democratic elected Prime Minister.
Wait until the next election.
Thanks Marion.
You are correct.
1. Tony Abbott was NOT democratically elected by the people of Australia as Prime Minister (PM).
In Oz we do not vote directly for our Prime Minister. PMs are elected by whatever Party forms government. In this case, after the election of the Liberal-National Coalition Government on 7 September 2013, Tony Abbott – who had been the Leader of the Opposition since 1 December 2009 – was appointed by the Party as PM. Australians in the electorate of Warringah voted Tony Abbott into office as the Member for Warringah but no one voted him in as PM.
2. Australians DO want Solar.
With over 1.3 million roofs in Oz now bearing solar panels we have the highest penetration of roof-top solar in the world.
3. The Polls in Oz show that this will be a one-term Federal Government as after only 18 months in power it consistently trails the Australian Labor Party by 10 percentage points and as such both Tony Abbott and the Liberal-National Coalition Government will be gone in only another 18 months.
Whilst Will E is entitled to his beliefs he is not entitled to his own facts.
Will E should realise that his credibility is on the line when he makes such fundamental errors in his statements.
History will not smile on Mr Abbott…
Tony Abbott is deader than Tank Tops and Flared Jeans!!!
Security concerns?!
From the US Air Force website re solar power: “It affords Nellis (AFB) much needed energy security and mission assurance by providing a redundant primary electric feed to the installation.”
Does this mean Abbott feels more secure in the dark?
Perhaps installing solar panels would endanger his coal industry funding and ‘next job’ salary.
Or is Abbott referring to his future job security as a coal company executive once he leaves office?
He’s going to suck at that job even more than the one he currently has!
Coal is on its last legs.
To be fair (not that Abbott deserves any breaks), the seat of government site probably has major security concerns, including the potential for electronic espionage. It may be that the security team wants nothing other devices specifically designed to enhance the “security” of the building. I believe putting panels on the Obama Whitehouse ran into the same issue. There is just too much specialized demand on the roof for it to make sense anymore.
There will always be some surfaces onr which panels don’t actually make sense, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if this is one of them.
Have a look at the site on Google Maps. There’s plenty of space to install $5,720 worth of panels without having worry about whatever secrets Australia might have leaking out.
Actually, the Australian government has made it clear they want to spy on everyone, so it’s only fair that everyone gets to spy on them. So the whole house should be wired up with spy cameras. But in keeping with the spirit of the current government, it should be on a user pays basis with the rights to view being autioned off to the highest bidder, whether it be Beijing or the Comedy Channel. It would probably increase the safety of normal Australians enormously if Tony Abbott was being observed at all times, and all that work Abbott has put into keeping his body hotter than Putin’s may pay off with the revene from the shower cam. Although people paying to ensure no footage ever come from the shower cam may greatly outbid those who want to see it. I think 10% of the cam revenue going to Tony seems fair so he’ll have an incentive to keep things interesting and the other 90% can go into general revenue.
The problem isn’t the listed building. It is the dinosaur that it houses.
just remember that fossil fuels were once produced by solar power.
Yes and Mother Gaia saw to it that that power was encapsulated and prevented from poisoning the surface environment. It was greedy humans that were stupid enough to dig it all back up while there was an ongoing supply of solar power still being provided.
Abbott is a fool like Canada’s Harper. Abbott thinks that relying on dirty fossil fuels is the answer, when even a 12 year old kid, knows that renewable energy is the future. Abbott acts as if Global Warming is not a problem. India and China don’t want Australia’s dirty coal, because they are facing overwhelming amounts of air pollution in their cities. Both countries are aggressively moving into renewable energy to clean the air in their cities. Australia would do well to get rid of Abbott as soon as possible.
I’ve signed the open letter. Because I’m not a member of church anymore I checked: “I’m not a god-botherer, but for god’s sake, take the solar panels” 🙂
As the old saying goes, “Follow the money”.