Page 3601 - Week 10 - Tuesday, 26 August 2008
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greenhouse strategy 2000 and outlines how the ACT community—with strong and appropriate leadership, with a scientifically backed climate change strategy and indeed with the leadership and support of the government—will address climate change over the period 2007 to 2025. We have adopted a target of reducing emissions by 60 per cent by 2050—
DR FOSKEY: Of 2000 year levels.
MR STANHOPE: Back to 2000 levels, the same target that every other state and territory, and the ACT, have adopted or accepted—indeed, the same as the targets that have been accepted by all of the significant Western democracies. It is the same target; it is the same scheme. Indeed, the great difference between the ACT and other places within Australia is the rigour of the climate change strategy that we have adopted and put in place.
The weathering the change strategy contains a number of action plans. The first of the action plans includes initiatives based on improving the knowledge and awareness of climate change, improving the energy efficiency of government, showcasing and promoting renewable technologies, community and business awareness, education programs and ensuring easy market access to green power. The action plan includes initiatives to reduce our emissions as well as identifying the risks we face from climate change. All 43 actions within the strategy are underway, in progress. Some have been completed. A number that have been implemented are the park and ride strategy, green power being offered to all new electricity customers, free bus travel—
DR FOSKEY: Can you answer the question, please.
MR STANHOPE: the introduction of a world-leading feed-in tariff—
DR FOSKEY: Point of order, Mr Speaker.
MR STANHOPE: the establishment of a business and academia—
MR SPEAKER: Order, Chief Minister! Point of order, Dr Foskey?
DR FOSKEY: The minister has not yet addressed the substance of the question—why change the targets from 1990 to 2000 year levels?
MR SPEAKER: Come to the subject matter of the question, please.
MR STANHOPE: I am doing that. I am answering on the basis of the strategy that is in place and the basis on which and the reasons for which we adopted the strategy we have. It is a good strategy. It is backed by a real commitment in dollars. Indeed, to date the ACT government has committed somewhere in the order of $240 million to its climate change strategy over the next 10 years.
That contrasts with the commitment made by the previous government to the greenhouse strategy that it issued. I understand that in its last year in government the previous government committed somewhere in the order of a few hundred thousand
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