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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 06 Hansard (Wednesday, 23 June 2004) . . Page.. 2539 ..

(a) a no-interest, low-interest or CPI-interest only loan scheme to facilitate house owners increasing the energy efficiency of their properties, and installing solar water heating, with particular attention to landlords;

(b) an energy efficiency and water use rating system for commercial buildings, drawing on the best available Australian models;

(c) a program to retrofit current public housing to four star energy ratings in the short term, aiming for five stars in the medium term;

(d) annual targets specifically for greenhouse emissions from transport in the ACT; and

(e) an additional dedicated position within Environment ACT (or other appropriate agency) to drive implementation of government targets and timelines for government agency reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.”.

The government is seriously committed to tackling the greenhouse issue. Since being elected, the government has funded a number of greenhouse reduction projects, including $1.1 million over three years for the solar hot water rebate scheme, $225,000 for the wood heater replacement scheme, $1.2 million for the energise your home scheme, $150,000 for a government buildings energy audit, $4 million for sustainable infrastructure projects aimed at dealing with issues such as greenhouse gas emissions from government buildings, and the announcement today of the greenhouse gas abatement scheme, legislation for which is to be introduced tomorrow. All these programs are having a significant impact on our greenhouse gas emissions.

There is no doubt that there is much more that we can and should do to meet greenhouse obligations. However, a review of the ACT greenhouse strategy which commenced in 2002 found that the task of achieving the targets set in the original 2000 greenhouse strategy has become significantly harder. The original targets were set in 1997. It is important to recognise that the then Liberal government committed to the target whilst completely ignorant of the ACT’s actual greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, the targets were essentially a best guess that, in retrospect, are beginning to seem more than a little unrealistic.

Emission levels attributable to the ACT were first estimated in 1988. Inventory calculations in 2000 found that the 1990 ACT emissions were nine per cent lower than the levels estimated in 1998. The review of the greenhouse strategy, using more recent information, found that the rate of growth of emissions was higher than estimated in the 2000 strategy. The result of these findings is that the saving required by 2008 to reduce emissions to 1990 levels is now 890 kilotonnes, a 27 per cent increase in the estimate in the 2000 strategy. This is at best extremely challenging, but in reality could be an impossible target.

However, the latest advice which I have received from my primary greenhouse adviser within Environment ACT, Mr Gordon McAllister, indicates that the ACT can only realistically hope to achieve 75 per cent of the required abatement to achieve 1990 levels; that is, according to Mr McAllister, even if the ACT were to implement all of the proposals contained in the greenhouse strategy review which was released last year and if these measures were to prove effective, the ACT would only meet 75 per cent of its target.

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