Pauline Hanson has agreed to a taxpayer-funded rebate scheme to install solar power on her Queensland home, despite calling for an end to public subsidies for renewable energy projects.
Data from the Clean Energy Regulator, released under freedom of information laws, shows the One Nation leader among three Conservative federal MPs agreeing to the small-scale renewable energy (SRES) scheme, despite being a strident critic of government subsidies for net zero policies.
National Senator Matt Canavan and MP Kevin Hogan have also benefited from the scheme, which offers financial incentives to install systems such as rooftop solar, solar batteries, solar water heaters or air-powered heat pumps.
Independent MP Zali Steggall criticized the “stunning” hypocrisy of Conservative MPs for agreeing to the plan while publicly undermining policies aimed at achieving net zero emissions.
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A spokesman for Hanson said Steggall “obviously has not read One Nation’s energy policy”, published last December. In it, the party offered “in principle” support to the SRES.
“In other words, One Nation and Senator Hanson support rooftop solar as one of the few ways households can take action to reduce their energy bills,” the spokesperson said.
“Of course, this wouldn’t be necessary if Labor and Steggall’s obsession with large-scale renewables wasn’t impoverishing Australian households with record electricity bills.”
However, Hanson also previously took aim at the SRES, criticizing the cheaper home batteries program run through the scheme.
“Only One Nation would stop these stealth purchases in the name of net zero and simply ensure you get the cheapest electricity possible every time you turn on the lights,” Hanson said in a press release last year.
A party spokesperson declined to clarify whether its support for SRES extended to the home battery programme, which Hanson has criticised.
To access the SRES incentive, those who install eligible systems apply for “small-scale technology certificates” (STC) that function as a subsidy to reduce the initial installation cost.
According to the regulator, most system owners assign the right to exchange these STCs to an agent (typically the retailer) in exchange for a discount or delayed cash payment for their solar system.
In 2025, 99.6% of STCs went to an agent, rather than the system owner.
While the value of Hanson’s subsidy was unclear (as it varies by size and location), the average 10kW solar system installed in Queensland in 2025 would be expected to generate a rebate of $2,760, based on the average STC price of $40.
The information, provided by the Clean Energy Regulator to Steggall, showed that a small-scale certificate application was submitted in April last year for a residential property owned by Pauline Hanson in Queensland, with the application submitted in her name. It was approved.
Canavan was approved for an STC application in 2020, while Hogan was approved for a property in his name in 2019.
Moderate Liberal senator Andrew Bragg, who has supported measures to tackle the climate crisis, has also benefited from the scheme, while 13 other Conservative critics subject to the FoI were found to have not accessed the programme.
In a 30-second clip posted to his party’s Facebook page last August, titled “Debunking the Myth Against Renewable Energy,” Hanson revealed that he had installed solar panels on his home.
“I’m not against renewable energy. In fact, I put panels on the roof of my house this year, so I put them up myself,” Hanson said.
“I’m against renewable energy and I’m putting solar panels… hundreds of thousands, or millions (of them), on farmland.”
The interviewer summarizes below: “So Pauline Hanson is in favor of rooftop solar panels, in favor of keeping coal-fired power plants open, and in favor of nuclear power.”
However, Hanson has been a fierce critic of government subsidies for renewable energy, calling for their elimination in a Senate speech last year.
“Billions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies for wind farms and solar panels over the past two decades have only resulted in a massive increase in the cost of energy,” he said.
Canavan, one of the National Party’s most strident critics of renewable energy subsidies, told the Senate last year that Australians were being subjected to a “green energy scam”.
“Time and time again, there seems to be this disconnect: we say renewable energy is the cheapest form of energy, yet the more renewable energy is installed, the more energy prices rise for everyone.”
Canavan defended the use of the subsidy, saying he was “not against renewable electricity or electric vehicles.”
“But I don’t think the government should take from the poor to pay the rich to have these things,” he said.
“I agree with Kerry Packer. I am going to minimize my contribution to governments as much as possible because they are not spending it well enough to deserve donations. Zali wants higher taxes. Have you made any voluntary contributions?”
Hogan has also taken aim at net-zero policies, saying the “reckless” ambition means “more blackouts and higher energy bills.”
Defending his use of the SRES, Hogan said he had been involved in “a very successful coalition government policy” that had helped with the uptake of rooftop solar, but raised concerns about current subsidies for renewables.
“Taxpayer support must be specific, transparent and offer clear value for money. Not depend on large indefinite subsidies,” he said.
Steggall, who also benefited from the SRES, criticized MPs who attacked the subsidies while also benefiting from them.
“Despite the hollow rhetoric from the right, the benefits of renewable energy are appreciated and enjoyed across the political spectrum,” Steggall said.
“The hypocrisy is staggering. If renewable energy is supposedly so harmful, why are these politicians lining up to benefit from it and, in the process, receiving public subsidies?”
