Page 1052 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 30 March 2011
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MS BURCH: I am speaking regularly and often and firmly with my executive. They are briefing with me on a daily if not twice daily basis. They are doing what they can to get to the bottom of this. At no point has anyone brought any issues of obstruction or difficulty from staff to management.
Energy—policy
MS HUNTER: My question is to the Minister for Energy and is in regard to the sustainable energy policy and weathering the change action plan 2. Minister, on 9 March 2011 you informed the Assembly in question time that the government had delayed the release of the energy policy until the release of action plan 2, which you indicated would occur in the first half of this year. In the climate change annual reports hearing last November, you said that public consultation on action plan 2 would be undertaken in the first quarter of 2011. Minister, given consultation for action plan 2 is now overdue and has still not started, are you confident that the government can meet the deadline of releasing action plan 2 before the middle of 2011?
MR CORBELL: The government is cognisant of the need to have regard to developments at a national level. The most significant of these has been the federal government’s announcement that they intend to legislate for a carbon price as part of a national response to greenhouse gas emissions production obligations at some stage this year or early next year, and we do anticipate the federal government will announce a carbon price at some point this year, although the exact timing is yet to be advised by the federal government. So it is, I think, important that we are cognisant of that development. It does have implications for the territory’s response to meet its own greenhouse gas emission targets and must be taken into account. Therefore, the government will do everything possible to meet the time frame that has been outlined.
However, we equally recognise the need to make sure the policy is contemporary and has regard to the timing of the carbon price. Indeed, it may be the case that a federal government announcement on a carbon price will impact on the time frame for the completion of action plan 2 and the consultation on action plan 2. These are matters at this stage that we must keep under review and make sure that we are able to provide a timely and contemporary draft document for community consultation which has regard to developments at a national level.
MR SPEAKER: Ms Hunter, a supplementary question?
MS HUNTER: Thank you, Mr Speaker. Minister, will evaluations of action plan 1 be used to develop action plan 2, and what recent evaluations have taken place?
MR CORBELL: My department does undertake a process of evaluating the success or otherwise of measures that were outlined in action plan 1 and they will be taken into account in the development of action plan 2.
MS BRESNAN: A supplementary question, Mr Speaker?
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