Kevin Rudd will set Australia a target of 20 per cent renewable energy by 2020 should the ALP form government after the election. Speaking at a Townsville school, Mr Rudd said the target was the equivalent of powering Australia’s 7.5 million homes for one year.
At the press conference that followed, Rudd ran into energy problems of his own when a power outage holted proceedings.
As James Goodwin from livenews.com.au observed:
"The assembled media watched as Mr Rudd looked over solar panels and electricity converting machine at a Townsville school, before heading inside to hear him release the details of his policy.
In the middle of answering questions the lights in the room being run on solar power suddenly went out, plunging the room into complete darkness.
There was a rush to get things back up and running, but to no avail.
The questions and answers then continued on under the lights of the battery-operated television cameras.
I’m not sure if this was the best way to convince people to embrace renewable energy, it felt a bit like taking a car for a test drive and having it breakdown down on you."