A prominent trade union official sacked from the Labor Party before last year's federal election will appear before a Senate inquiry today to argue against the government's means test on solar panel rebates.
Dean Mighell, the Victorian secretary of the Electrical Trades Union (ETU), is scheduled to give evidence to the Senate's standing committee on environment, communications and the arts during a public hearing in Melbourne.
The committee is investigating the impact of a budget decision to limit eligibility of the $8,000 rebate to households earning less than $100,000 a year.
The decision has angered the solar industry and environmental groups who say it sends the wrong message about climate change.
The ETU has attacked the means test in a written submission to the inquiry.
Senator Simon Birmingham, a coalition member of the committee, said the hearing is another important opportunity for contractors, suppliers and others to say how they had been adversely affected by the means test.
"This means test has been a double whammy for the environment and the economy, with carbon reduction and jobs lost as millions of dollars in solar business has dried up," he said in a statement.
