Australians want the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility to support renewable energy and education, not coal.
New polling released today by the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) shows Australians want the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF) to support renewable energy (33%) and education infrastructure projects (28%) to encourage economic development in Northern Australia, not coal projects (7%).
New research from ACF reviewing investment opportunities for Northern Australia demonstrates:
- 20 alternative proposals for jobs rich large scale solar plants
- 20 higher education campuses
- 67 Indigenous Ranger groups with no certainty of long term funding
- Hundreds of locations where internet and mobile phones are unusable
The full research brief, polling tables and new maps of the investment opportunities are available here.
“Public investment in Adani coal would cheat Australians in the north out of jobs in renewable energy, better education facilities and tourism,” said ACF economist Matt Rose.
“There are a wealth of opportunities in northern Australia that will create high paying jobs in solar energy, education and tourism while Adani coal will risk public money and threaten the Reef.
“Australians understand that the future lies in renewables and innovation, but Malcolm Turnbull seems to have forgotten.
“If the Malcolm Turnbull chooses coal instead of renewables for NAIF money it will be the final nail in the coffin to his claim of wanting an innovative Australia.
“If Malcolm Turnbull still wants to be the innovation Prime Minister he must rule out public money being used to guarantee a mine that is likely to end up being a stranded asset and that will take Northern Australia backwards.
“Any NAIF investment in coal will come at a huge cost to Northern Australia in terms of missed opportunities for a cleaner, smarter future,” Mr Rose said.
