Page 1396 - Week 06 - Tuesday, 5 June 2007
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Mr Stanhope: Who is that, Bill?
MR STANHOPE: The motor trades association.
Mr Stanhope: That is not true.
MR STEFANIAK: They are also shocked, of course, because the bill calls for operators to provide highly sensitive commercial information. They are worried that they will be fined if they do not comply, and they are concerned that it adds yet another government administrative burden on small business operators.
I heard the Chief Minister say that they have been consulted. I would be fascinated to hear what he has to say because, quite clearly, that is not the information we have. While it is important indeed to ensure that we measure our greenhouse gas emissions, it has been suggested by the motor trades that all petrol comes into the ACT. We do not have any refineries, and petrol is distributed, in the main, by local distributors. It might be a lot more sensible if the government got its information from there, rather than from the individual service stations themselves.
I think it is crucially important that people who are affected at least are consulted and have the opportunity to give their views on legislation that directly impacts on them. I am very disappointed that the government has not consulted with these people. The Chief Minister interjected to say that they have. That is certainly not what we heard, Chief Minister. I think it would be sensible for you to adjourn this bill and go away and actually talk to the people who are concerned and allay their fears, if their fears happen to be groundless, or at least take on board any suggestions they have. It is important that we get it right.
It is crucially important in terms of climate change that we take appropriate steps, but we should not be taking steps without proper consultation with affected bodies. You might come up with some additional ideas that will further benefit our attempts to counter the effects of climate change. I urge the government at the very least to talk to the affected people, take on board their views and, if need be, amend the legislation. Let us get it right.
DR FOSKEY (Molonglo) (10.54): I welcome this bill. I have certainly called for the actions that it mandates. I have listened to Mr Stefaniak. I look forward to hearing Mr Stanhope outline what kind of consultation took place because obviously we do need the cooperation of service station operators if we are going to gather these statistics, which I believe are really important. Nonetheless, I do not see why we cannot pass the bill today and then work out the mechanism later on. Consultation is not something that this government has proved itself to be consistent at and good at, and I wait to hear what Mr Stanhope has to say.
The collection of fuel statistics is essential if the ACT is to pursue any meaningful reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Without the ability to quantify the emissions we produce, it is impossible to ensure that we meet any targets to reduce them. To set targets we need to know the starting point. I know that the problem of insufficient data was raised as an issue many years ago when the ACT’s original and, at this stage, only greenhouse strategy was released.
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