⏱️This edition of the National Account’s newsletter is a six-minute read.
👋 G’day everyone, Archie here with a couple of yarns I think may be of interest as we go into the latter half of the week.
One Nation and Senator Hanson support rooftop solar as one of the few ways households can act to reduce their energy bills
🗣️ Why did they say that?
Despite criticising Australia's shift to a renewable energy economy, One Nation Leader Senator Pauline Hanson, new Nationals leader Matt Canavan and Nationals federal MP Kevin Hogan have taken advantage of the government’s solar panel subsidies.
The small-scale renewable energy scheme (SRES) offers taxpayer discounts on the installation of solar panels, batteries, solar water heaters and air-sourced heat pumps.
The trio are among the 6,437,092 Australians who’ve taken part in the scheme since 2001.
Don’t they hate renewables? In September 2025, One Nation released a statement criticising battery subsidies:
“When it comes to government money, there's no such thing as a free lunch. Only One Nation would stop these sneaky takeovers in the name of net zero, and simply make sure you get the cheapest electricity possible whenever you turn on the lights.”
One Nation’s response: A One Nation spokesperson told the Guardian the party offered “in principle” support of the SRES, adding that Pauline Hanson supports rooftop solar as a way for households to reduce energy bills.
How much did she save? We can’t be sure, but the average 10kW solar system installed in Queensland in 2025 would create a subsidy of $2,760 against the cost of installation. That’s ignoring the additional savings on energy bills.
The Nationals: Canavan - who was elected on Wednesday morning as Nationals leader following the sudden resignation of David Littleproud - took part in the solar subsidy scheme in 2020 and a property in Hogan’s name was approved for the scheme in 2019.
Canavan said he was not opposed to rooftop solar and electric cars, while Hogan said he was participating in Coalition policy.
For my full breakdown check out today’s video:
Are we at war? 🪖
What happened? Just over a week into the war, and Australia is sending military assets to the Middle East.
The Prime Minister announced on Tuesday the deployment of a surveillance aircraft, a crew of 85 and missiles to the United Arab Emirates after a request from President Mohammed bin Zayed.
What are we sending? The E-7A Wedgetail is a surveillance aircraft the government says is one of the best in the world in terms of airborne, long-range intelligence gathering and command. Along with the aircraft will be a crew of 85 people.
A Wedgetail was previously deployed to Ukraine in support of the war effort against Russia.
Australia will maintain command of the plane during its four-week deployment.
Missiles: At the UAE’s request, Australia will also be providing “Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles”. These will be fired from the air against Iranian rockets and drones attacking UAE airspace.
The number of missiles being provided is unclear, and Australia does not have final control on how these missiles are used.
Defence Minister Richard Marles said: “I want to emphasise in relation to the [missiles], they are a purely defensive weapon and so we're confident about their use.”
Why are we doing this? The government has justified the deployment, calling it a request from a friend and a way to protect Australian citizens.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said there are roughly 115,000 Australians in the Middle East and around 24,000 of those in the UAE.
“What we are doing is providing for the defence of the UAE and of Australian citizens,” he said.
Thanks for catching up with me. I hope you enjoyed this issue, and I’d love to hear your thoughts. Just reply to this email and I’ll be on the other side 👋
I’ll be back on Friday.
Cheers, Archie