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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 7 Hansard (28 June) . . Page.. 2111 ..
MS TUCKER
(continuing):If I could leave their battleground for the forest of a bird
I could melt the past, the present and the future in one
And find the words that lie behind all these languages.
Then I could fuse my passions into one clear tone,
And be simple to myself as the bird is to the bird.
Question resolved in the affirmative, members standing in their places.
MS
TUCKER (11.16): I present the Environment Protection Legislation Amendment Bill 2000.Title read by Clerk.
MS
TUCKER: I move:That this bill be agreed to in principle.
Mr Speaker, this legislation is very significant for the environment of not only the ACT but also the surrounding region. The burning of fuel wood is a major concern if we want to protect the nation's remnant forest and woodlands. Wood heating is a problem in that it produces nearly three times the greenhouse emissions of natural gas. The burning of wood is also a major concern if we want to address the serious small particle air pollution that has become a feature of our Canberra winters and causes ill health in our community.
Unfortunately the firewood issue has not received much attention from environmentalists or governments. Perhaps one reason is that the industry is scattered and many small operators and private collectors are involved. Perhaps it is because many of us enjoy a wood fire. The impact of our consumption of fuel wood can be imagined when you realise that approximately 6.1 million tonnes of fuel wood is consumed in Australia each year, which compares to an annual export of 5 million tonnes of eucalypt woodchips. For this reason I will spend some time explaining the ecological, consumer protection and health grounds for better regulation of firewood harvesting and use.
Wood stoves were the chief form of heating in Australia until the 1950s. Cheap heating oil in the 1960s and the 1970s reduced firewood use. As the oil price rose in the 1980s, use of fuel wood increased again. The proportion of wood using homes increased in Australia from 9.4 per cent in 1976 to 25 per cent in the late 1980s. The number of households using wood fell between 1988 and 1994, reflecting availability and popularity of natural gas.
Based on these trends, it is likely that without government intervention or other external factors, the proportion of households using firewood as the main heat source will decrease over the next 10 years. However, because of population increase and more people using heaters occasionally as a result of existing heaters in homes, the total number of households using firewood will increase by a small amount.
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