Page 3107 - Week 08 - Thursday, 25 June 2009
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bring together a disparate range of agencies that deliver fundamental sustainability policy and programs for the territory in energy, water and waste, as well as environment and nature conservation and sustainability policy more generally and, of course, with the overarching issues of climate change and our response as a city to climate change to be addressed.
I note some of the commentary about a number of the budget measures and I would like to respond briefly to those. First, in relation to the commentary about the arboretum and its use as a climate change measure, the point that needs to be acknowledged here is that the arboretum makes a contribution to reducing and capturing greenhouse gas emissions. I appreciate there can be an argument about whether or not it should be identified per se as a climate change initiative but, at the end of the day, it does capture a very large amount of carbon. It has never been claimed by the government to be a major element of our climate change policies, but it is a program that makes a contribution. I think members should acknowledge that.
Indeed, the report that I tabled earlier today on the sequestration of carbon in the territory currently and moving forward to 2025 highlights the fact that it is the plantings that occur in the public estate in the urban area that are going to make the most significant contribution in capturing carbon. Currently, our urban estate holds only one per cent of all the carbon sequestered in the ACT, but over the next 10 to 15 years it will actually capture 48 per cent of the carbon that could potentially be captured for sequestration. That is an enormous effort on the part of the trees in the urban estate and, of course, the arboretum can be viewed in that broader context. I think members should have regard to that.
Secondly, I note the commentary about the switch your thinking program. This is an important new initiative. I note the comments about trying to spread it too thinly. I am very conscious of the issue as well. We need to achieve some level of critical mass with all of the different elements of the switch your thinking program. We will be focusing on achieving that. We will be focusing on making it a worthwhile exercise and an effective use of public money. That is why, in particular, the focus is on lower income households. Assisting over 1,000 lower income households a year is a good and positive thing for the territory and for low income households whether it be in terms of rebates on appliances, energy efficiency improvements, water efficiency improvements and so on.
Thirdly, in relation to plastic bags, there is no doubt that this is a complex area. We are the first territory to consider whether or not we should formally legislate for a ban. Other jurisdictions have done it on a voluntary basis, so they have not engaged the constitutional issues that we are now working through. I think it is unfair criticism to say that we should have thought about all of the complexities of these provisions of the constitution before making the commitment. I would be interested to know whether the Liberal Party thought about any potential constitutional issues with any of their election commitments at the last election and whether they went out and engaged constitutional advice just to check them all out. These are things that governments do when governments are elected to implement programs, and we are working through those issues. I look forward to providing further advice to the Assembly in due course on that one.
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