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Could spending a billion dollars actually bring solar manufacturing back to Australia? It’s worth a shot (theconversation.com)

submitted 7 months ago by [email protected] to c/environment

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[–] Anonbal185 2 points 7 months ago (2 children)

Yep we have no way to compete with low income countries.

Firstly their wages is very low.

Secondly the amount of inductions and safety related stuff people have to attend to even for an office job, it was literally the entire first week and a yearly update.

Then all the other compliance you have to do. Twice yearly fire drill. Need multiple people on site that's certified for first aid, fire wardens and the whole coordinator.

A whole month of people's working life every year is paid in annual leave and that's not even counting sickies or other personal leave. Overtime rates starting at 1.5.

When someone dies on the job here people get in a lot of shit (and rightly so).

In China people are kept in dormitories and a friend who was born there said that lower educated people who usually takes this job are kept in dormitories so they can spend more time working (less time commuting). Some are known to only get 1 day off a month, which isn't unusual.

Definitely no overtime rates, no sickies or personal leave (don't work don't get paid) no annual leave.

If someone has an accident at work well there's 10 waiting at the door to replace them. Same if they quit. You want more wages? Well bye, there's someone to replace you.

Not saying that's correct but that's the reality. We will never be able to complete because their standards for workers is way lower.

We should focus on high tech industries. Health/education industry we should increase wages for nurses and teachers.

More investment in IT, FinTech etc. Banking, consultancy, etc white collar jobs.

Let the lower income countries do the dangerous jobs and focus on high return safer jobs in Australia.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Absolutely. I'd love to see a domestic industry for this and other things, but short of massive tariffs and subsidies, there's no way all the reason above won't make the prices sky high comparatively. Which would slow renewable energy adoption.

This is a very typical grift to take advantage of the post-covid domestication of industry push; pitch the buy local aspect, get the government to fund it, siphon off funds for a few years, with some token production and a few jobs, until they get tired of paying out, then pack it up and sell the equipment and land and retire. This specific "produce solar locally" scam has played out in Europe, US and Canada already.

The best way you could do this is to just spend half a billion buying panels now and give them away. At least at the end of it, you'd have some solar panels putting out electricity instead of making millionaires out of some con men.

[–] Lintson 1 points 7 months ago

!The best way you could do this is to just spend half a billion buying panels now and give them away. At least at the end of it, you'd have some solar panels putting out electricity instead of making millionaires out of some con men.!<

Spend all that money without claiming cheap votes and making your mates rich? You madman

[–] prex 2 points 7 months ago

I see these arguements all the time but when you see the factory its all robots.

I bought some plastic clothes pegs at the supermarket the other month - they were made in Melbourne. In my mind its 2 or 3 people nursing a second hand injection moulding setup in a low rent semi abandond light industrial area.

Some of this stuff can be done but I don't know about solar panels specifically. I bet asianometry could do a good video on it.