Mick Veitch MLC calls on O'Farrell to apologise to families with solar panels
Back to NewsMick Veitch the Duty MLC for Burrinjuck today called on Premier O\'Farrell to apologise to local families caught up in his proposed retrospective Solar Bonus Scheme legislation.
"Despite claiming he has listened to the community, Barry O\'Farrell yesterday said on radio he wished he had been able to push his retrospective changes on the Solar Bonus Scheme through anyway," Mr Veitch said.
Today, Mr O\'Farrell said:
“We have decided not to proceed with changes to the solar bonus scheme because it simply wasn’t going to get through the Upper House.”
(Barry O\'Farrell, 2BL, 7 June 2011)
"It\'s time for the Premier to admit he got it wrong and apologise to the families in Burrinjuck who have been caught up in this mess," Mr Veitch said.
"Mr O\'Farrell was told from day one that this retrospective legislation was a bad idea by the Opposition, the community and the experts, but he refused to listen.
"Instead, the Premier tried to push ahead – and he would still be pushing ahead with the retrospective changes if he hadn\'t been blocked in the Upper House.
"Mr O\'Farrell\'s retrospective legislation should never have been proposed in the first place."
Shadow Energy Minister Luke Foley said the debacle had left 110,000 families in financial limbo for weeks.
"The Premier\'s pigheaded position on the Solar Bonus Scheme was set to cost 110,000 families thousands of dollars," said Mr Foley.
"Mr O\'Farrell has now admitted that the only reason he will honour contracts under the Solar Bonus Scheme is because the Opposition and crossbench have forced him to.
"Barry O\'Farrell has demonstrated bad judgement and complete disregard for the mums and dads of NSW.
"This whole affair has confirmed Mr O\'Farrell\'s complete and utter arrogance."