Page 530 - Week 02 - Tuesday, 8 March 2011
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supporting a market mechanism right through to supporting so-called “direct action” where programs would be at the whim of government agencies handing out cash to big polluters. It is hard to see how anyone in the community could be sure about what policy mechanisms the Liberal Party think would really address climate change.
To the election commitments of this government here in the ACT: we need to look at these election commitments in the context of minority government and against the backdrop of a parliamentary agreement that delivered minority government to the ALP. The Greens are very proud of our election commitments and the success we have had in ensuring that those have been delivered; already many have been delivered to the people of Canberra.
It is important for everyone, not just governments, to keep their election promises. The Greens put most of our commitments down in the parliamentary agreement and we have so far managed to deliver on many of those commitments. We all have an obligation to put our arguments in this place consistent with what we have told the electorate that we will argue for. Equally, we have an obligation to clearly put a position on all the issues that we are faced with—an obligation not to muddy the waters or hide from the issue but, rather, to stand up and clearly say what we think and what we would do if given the opportunity, so that the electorate can fairly evaluate who they want to represent them.
No doubt there will always be debate about the level of success or otherwise in the delivery of promises. In the context of today’s debate it is appropriate to highlight the 2004 ALP promise for sustainability legislation that would take a more comprehensive look at how we can protect the environment and reduce the loss of biodiversity within the territory. As yet, the government have not delivered on this particular promise. They also promised to protect a number of very ecologically important grasslands, and this has not been done to date either. And of course our view is that they should do this and that these measures are essential if we are to have a sustainable community.
There will, of course, be times when it is appropriate to change the commitment that was made during, say, an election campaign and we should not be frightened to admit that maybe we were wrong and that there are better ways of doing things. Blindly following a stated path when a better outcome is available is a much worse outcome for the community. At times, confrontational politics get in the way of outcomes and, as I said earlier, people are turning off the old style of politics. They are looking for something better. They want something more collegiate where negotiation and debate lead to better results.
One of the items of the parliamentary agreement where the government has changed direction with implementation was the large scale renewable energy facility. The parliamentary agreement called for expressions of interest by the end of 2008 for the development of a renewable energy plant capable of producing sufficient power for at least 10,000 Canberra homes and the provision of at least $30 million in assistance in the 2009-10 budget to ensure the development of the plant.
The government did call for expressions of interest in regard to this, and it would be fair to say that in this regard perhaps they have met the terms of this agreement. They
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