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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 06 Hansard (Wednesday, 23 June 2004) . . Page.. 2538 ..

up and speak on this issue, and there are amendments that try to gut Ms Tucker’s excellent proposal which we will not be supporting.

MRS CROSS (5.25): I support Ms Tucker’s motion. I think that it is a very timely motion. It is interesting how everybody round the country is getting politically into the energy issue.

Mrs Dunne: Except this government.

MRS CROSS: Most people, I suppose. I am interested in Mrs Dunne’s bluebell award proposal. I am just wondering whether it replaces the star system.

Mrs Dunne: No, it is in addition to the star system.

MRS CROSS: Okay. The measures proposed by Ms Tucker in her call for a commitment to a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in the ACT are sound and practical and the benefits that would flow from the implementation of those measures are unarguable. We need to keep aware and be kept aware of the need to maintain the health of our habitat in the same way as we need to be aware that our personal health will decline if we do not consciously take measures to maintain it.

To maintain our health, we need to establish goals so that we do not become neglectful of things that are important. Sometimes, maybe often, we fall short of achieving the goals that we set for ourselves, but that should not lead to our not having these goals. Sometimes we might fail to achieve goals because we have set them too high, but there is no harm in that either; it usually just serves as a spur to make us try a bit harder.

The bottom line is that we need standards. Among other things, we need them as a measure of the seriousness of our approach to maintaining and improving our habitat and as a reminder to us of how careless we sometimes are in the way we neglect mother nature. We need to look after her. The measures and goals proposed by Ms Tucker in her motion for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the ACT would help us to do that better. I commend Ms Tucker for her motion.

MR STANHOPE (Chief Minister, Attorney-General, Minister for Environment and Minister for Community Affairs) (5.27): Mr Deputy Speaker, an amendment to the motion has been circulated in my name. I will speak to both the motion and my amendment. I move:

Omit all words after “That this Assembly”, substitute:

“Notes the Government will soon introduce Greenhouse Benchmarks as a Retail Licence Condition for electricity retailers, in line with NSW; and calls on the Government to:

(1) review the Territory’s commitment to meeting the Greenhouse Gas Reduction target of reducing net greenhouse emissions to 1990 levels by 2008, and reducing them by 20% by 2018; and to this end

(2) give consideration to:

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