Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .

Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 10 Hansard (4 September) . . Page.. 3091 ..

MR HUMPHRIES (continuing):

and, if we are able to better manage those things, achieve a higher level of management of the gas emissions by those sorts of processes, then naturally we make an important contribution to the achievement of national goals in that area. I understand that the national planning targets referred to by Ms Tucker are also subject to review in light of the release of the national greenhouse gas inventory and other developments.

The important point to make, of course, Mr Speaker, is that, before we set targets in the ACT for levels of greenhouse gas emission reduction, it is essential that we actually know what our level of greenhouse gas emission is. We do not, at this point, know what that is. Indeed, I suspect that there is some difficulty across the nation in identifying just what that level is, and the process of the greenhouse gas inventory progressing is extremely important in achieving that goal. I do not interpret Ms Tucker's motion to be saying to us that we should set targets before we know what our present contribution is or before, in other words, the work of that inventory process is concluded; but I do take from her motion the strong call for the Government to ensure that when the levels of emission are determined we will take the step then of reducing those levels in accordance with the targets that we set ourselves progressively in order to meet the requirements of the Australian contribution towards that overall goal.

We made the commitment to reduce levels in our response to the 1994 State of the Environment Report, and we stand by that. I might go so far as to say that no other Australian government is prepared to go as far as we have gone on those sorts of commitments. The ACT contributes, as I said, less than one per cent. The Commonwealth is funding research at the moment to produce detailed figures about the inventories. That research is a necessary precursor to the adoption of targets and the lowering of the targets over time. I think it is worth recording the sorts of things that are presently under way in order to achieve lower levels of greenhouse gas emission, and some of those have been touched on already by Ms Tucker. One of them, which I read about in the paper today and which I thought was quite exciting, was the window energy rating scheme. Ms Tucker also referred to that. It is a scheme based, in part, on the success and the stringency of our own mandatory housing energy rating scheme, which has now been in operation for some months in the Territory and which, very successfully, I think, is getting home owners to address the issue of how to manage energy loss in their own homes.

The ACT has also taken an important lead in the area of transport. Our revised transport strategy has placed increased emphasis on environmental objectives, and I am going to consider very soon a report on the initial trial of natural gas in government vehicles. That also is a way that the large government fleet - which is getting smaller, I might say - can contribute to lower emissions. There are two natural gas buses in the ACTION bus fleet at the moment, and these will undergo emission tests shortly to compare diesel and diesohol fuel buses, and that will be valuable. We are also instituting regular reporting to agencies on fuel consumption, which will allow agencies to monitor the performance of the vehicles and identify those that we are not operating efficiently. We are examining alternative fuel options for trucks and earthmoving equipment. Ms Tucker has also made

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .