<
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/apr/03/solar-panels-could-be-a-lifesaver-for-public-housing-tenants-grappling-with-australias-soaring-energy-costs>
"Natalie Rabey doesn’t know how much time she has left. But she knows what she
wants to do with it.
“While I’m still breathing, I’d like to get some action on solar panels for
people in public housing, because it’s just terrible at the moment,” she says.
The 73-year-old public housing resident has spent more than a decade advocating
for improved living conditions for public tenants in Melbourne’s south-eastern
suburbs. She says with the cost of living soaring, she has never seen so many
people doing it so tough.
“A lot of people around here are getting help from the Salvos and neighbourhood
houses with food, especially pensioners. How are they supposed to pay their
power bills, medication, groceries when it’s all going up by so much?” Rabey
says.
“I know some people are just not turning their heaters on in winter, while the
ones who have air conditioners, they don’t use them at all in the summer
because they can’t afford to. Others are just switching everything off.”
For Rabey, this is not an option. She has permanent scarring on her lungs
following a viral infection that put her in hospital for nine weeks. As a
result, she needs to use an oxygen machine and run two air purifiers and a
compressor 24 hours a day.
“I don’t know what it’s going cost me as we head into winter because I have to
keep the heating on throughout the night, because otherwise in the morning it’s
freezing and I start coughing up,” Rabey says.
She is backing a push by the Victorian Public Tenants’ Association to install
solar panels on every public housing property in the state.
In its state budget submission, the VPTA, the peak body representing existing
public housing renters and those on the waitlist, estimates 23,500 existing
public housing properties are suitable for installation of rooftop solar
panels.
It could save each household up to $535.49 each year in energy bills.
The VPTA chief executive, Katelyn Butterss, said the proposal would tackle
cost-of-living pressures for low-income households, help Victoria reach its
emissions reductions targets, and create more than 1,000 jobs."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
