Page 3801 - Week 14 - Thursday, 10 December 1992
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Mr Humphries rightly raised the fact that the comparative prices on page 29, particularly with reference to coal and hydro, do not necessarily take into account the capital infrastructure that has been put into place. He recognised that, and quite rightly. Yet, when we look at the costs of any new system, that is taken into account. Generally, I think that is a great inadequacy in the way costs are presented. However, it also takes into account in real terms what we would have to pay. The issue that is raised, therefore, is how we break that nexus between accelerating technology and its not being able to be accelerated because people are not buying it because it is too expensive. That is why we felt that there was a role for legislation in that area.
Mr Humphries also dealt with energy efficient housing and said that it comes at a cost. He suggested that it was appropriate that the Government put a costing on that, and I think that is an appropriate request. The difficulty with energy efficient housing is that, in some cases, to achieve a great deal very little is involved as far as cost goes. Siting a house in an appropriate way is a method of improving energy efficiency significantly without any cost at all. On the other hand, when we look at ceiling insulation and wall insulation - and I will come back to this because Mr Humphries dealt with it at length - the initial cost of the house is likely to be covered within the first three or four years, for an average house. It is very difficult to put figures on these things because of the variety of different housing, the variety of sizes and the variety of building materials.
With reference to ceiling insulation, one factor that must be taken into account, Mr Humphries, is the notion that when somebody purchases a house with ceiling insulation in it, remembering that the vast majority of houses in the ACT are built by spec builders, that initial purchase price is usually covered under a mortgage, with the cost of borrowing much lower than anybody is going to be able to borrow at within the next two or three years. Whether they borrow through a finance company or a bank or whatever, the cost of a mortgage is, for most people, the cheapest way of borrowing money. Therefore, that $1,500 would be included as part of the mortgage when the insulation is built into the house. I think that is a factor that it is very important to consider. It actually spreads the price of the insulation over a 25-year period or more - sometimes a 40-year period - whereas the savings are returned to the person within three or four years. I think that is a very powerful argument as to why we should make ceiling insulation mandatory from the outset.
Mr Humphries also raised the issue of schools.
Mr Humphries: You are picking on me.
MR MOORE: No; I think your criticism of the report is quite valid. I am just responding to some of the points. I find it very refreshing that you took the time and the trouble to continue with the debate. I am very pleased that you did, and I appreciate the fact that you have done that. I am attempting to answer some of the issues you raised. The intention of the report is to continue the debate and to continue with the issues.
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