Page 3104 - Week 07 - Thursday, 30 June 2011
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before carbon targets were set it was going to be important to see what departments were actually using. The whole thing has been a year late getting started, and of course we are still waiting to see what targets the minister might set for each department.
Indeed, a more recent response from the minister to a question on notice said that carbon budgets would be considered for departments as part of the response to carbon neutrality. Whether they are carbon budgets or greenhouse reductions targets is probably a moot point but I hope this was not a backing away by the minister to the notion of setting emission reductions targets right across government.
However, it is good to see that it is getting started in a comprehensive way in terms of data collection, and we are also looking forward to seeing the report that was completed some time ago by the environment commissioner on the government agencies’ environmental assessment reporting. The minister has had that report since October 2010 and I gather the government is due to respond shortly. It would certainly seem well due.
Directly connected to the greenhouse agenda, though not funded from this directorate, is of course the government’s green energy purchase. This budget sees an increase in the percentage of green energy the government is purchasing this year, up from 32½ per cent to 37½ per cent. While we are acutely aware that the target of reaching 100 per cent green energy is slipping, we can only be grateful that we are still moving in the right direction. Five per cent this year is better than the 2½ per cent last year. Since the four Greens were elected in 2008 the total percentage has gone from 23 per cent to 37½ per cent. It may be slow progress but at least it is progress. And credit where it is due. It is more progress than the ACT made under the previous Liberal government’s commitment to do the very same thing. Of course this percentage is closely linked to increasing energy efficiency. So those carbon budget targets become even more pressing for the government.
The government is progressing, albeit slowly, by getting its own house in order and with some significant movement on tackling those who will be most affected by the impacts of climate change and rising energy prices. This was definitely the two places where it needed to start, and I commend it for doing so.
However, there are significant delays on the water sustainability agenda, and the Greens are becoming quite dismayed at the speed of progress or lack thereof. We did debate our motion on this earlier this year. So I will not be reiterating our concerns too fully. Suffice it to say that there is considerable disappointment that the energy policy, action plan 2, the sustainable transport plan and the waste strategy have all slipped well past their due dates. The debate in the public domain about these issues is not slowing down. The capacity of the government to respond in a timely way is quite concerning and I hope that they do not get overtaken by the debate and release a set of policies that are already out of date.
This time last year I noted that the department had struggled to meet their anticipated outcomes for the year. Those same objectives have still not been met and even some slightly less onerous tasks have not able to be completed, such as the appointment of
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