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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 2 Hansard (1 March) . . Page.. 445 ..
MR HUMPHRIES (continuing):
got the $100m out of the business in the first place. It is like going to a bank and borrowing $100 and having to repay it after a period of time. You are no worse off by having done so, except you pay interest. I do not think there would be any interest to be paid in this particular situation. So where is the loss?
MS TUCKER: My question is to the Minister for Urban Services, who is responsible for the implementation of the ACT greenhouse strategy. Minister, in this strategy the Government has committed itself to buy 10 per cent of its electricity requirements from accredited green power sources from 2001, increasing this to 100 per cent by 2008 subject to the availability of sufficient green power electricity suppliers. The Government has also pledged to work with the Federal Government in its commitment to require electricity retailers nationally to source an additional 2 per cent of their electricity from renewable resources by 2010. The Government has also pledged to provide active support for and promotion of green power schemes in the ACT, as is happening in other States, particularly in New South Wales with its sustainable energy development authority. All these initiatives are to be commended. But, given this trend for the increasing use of green power electricity and the current excess generating capacity in the national grid for traditional electricity sources, can you explain from an environmental perspective why the Government is supporting the development of a gas-fired power station in the ACT as part of the ACTEW/AGL joint venture when there is a greater demand for the development of green power electricity sources?
MR SMYTH: There are benefits in having gas-fired power stations. If the option is to have a gas-fired power station rather than a brown coal power station, I know the option that I would be going for. There are a number of strategies in place, but it will be the market, the consumer, who will ultimately decide. I hope all members have signed up to greenchoice, which is a wonderful initiative put in place by the ACTEW Corporation. The marketplace in the end will push this, but the initiative of the Federal Government is encouraging and helping industry to make sure that it takes up the opportunity to supply green power.
What we have to do though through the marketplace is ensure that we provide incentives. In the ACT, greenchoice has been very well accepted. ACTEW has put in a mini-hydro. We are now looking at other opportunities to provide more green power in the ACT, as the market is there. We are securing our share so that we can meet those targets by the year 2008.
MS TUCKER: As I understand your answer, basically you are leaving it to the market to ensure that there will be sufficient green power generating capacity available to the ACT Government, although you did say that you would be trying to initiate or facilitate green power to ensure that there will be enough. Could you give more detail about exactly what initiatives you are going to undertake to ensure that we do have sufficient green power generating capacity available?
MR SMYTH
: I did not say that we were just leaving it to the market, but the market will have a big part to play. We can help shape what the industry does by having a marketplace that demands green power. Through the education programs that we have
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