Shadow Treasurer Malcolm Turnbull fired up today in support of a call to remove the government’s means test for solar panels.

The original plan to subsidise solar panels for Australian households came from Turnbull’s own Liberal party.

“I think it is very misguided because was it was not designed as social welfare subsidy,” says Turnbull.

Turnbull also claimed the government’s recent changes limiting eligibility for the rebate to households earning under $100,00 combined, would hurt the solar panel industry.

 “This is not like a family benefit. This was designed to support the industry. It was industry assistance.”

“Now, you can say that you don't think the solar panel sector needs support but for heaven's sake, at this point, when we are trying to grapple with climate change, when we have a country that has an enormous advantage – we’ve got a lot of sun! Some countries have got a lot of hydro-electricity, or a lot of geothermal electricity. We don't. We have a lot of sun.”

“Australia should be a world leader in solar technology.”

Malcolm Turnbull is one of many to already sign a new petition established by the Sunrise program to try to reverse the Rudd government’s decision to add a means test to the solar panel rebate.

Under the current arrangement, a family earning under $100,000 will receive a rebate up to $8,000 if they choose to go solar.

This leaves customers with about $3,000-$4,000 to pay themselves, an amount critics claim is beyond houses earning under $100,000.

Related links

Sign the petition

Solar panel industry slumping - Sunrise

Sunrise shines light on solar rebate restrictions – Sunrise

Why we’re starting a petition – Executive Producer’s blog