Page 4078 - Week 10 - Tuesday, 20 September 2011
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The majority of the ACT’s footprint (58 per cent) is due to energy needs, and the electricity component of this represents 13 per cent of the total footprint. Forestry products also form a significant aggregate in the overall footprint, at 18 per cent. At a more detailed level, the highest ranking components of the footprint are electricity use, residential building construction, retail trade, hospitality, petrol use and aviation.
The ACT can significantly reduce its ecological footprint by increasing electricity use efficiency and by sourcing electricity from renewable sources, and choosing goods and services with low embodied ecological footprints.
I do not have enough time to cover all of the proposals the Greens have put forward in this term of the Assembly that relate to what the government has said in its submission, but I will touch on transport, and my colleagues Mr Rattenbury and Ms Le Couteur will elaborate on other areas.
Transport is a massive weekly cost for families across Canberra. The Greens have a comprehensive and integrated transport plan that includes the provision of more public transport services as well as encouraging active transport. We are determined to make public transport a cheap, sustainable, fast and reliable way of getting about Canberra, as outlined in our transport plan, A better transport solution for Gungahlin and wider Canberra.
Studies conducted by transport researchers at the Queensland University of Technology have shown that the highest levels of car dependency are strongly correlated with high levels of mortgage stress; that is, it is usually the case that the families whose mortgage bills are the highest proportion of their income often have the highest bills associated with transport. There is a nexus we need to break, and the provision of public transport has some way to go. If we can make the second family car a choice, not an obligation, we will be lifting a heavy financial burden off Canberra families everywhere.
Furthermore, developing our public transport network is not just a tool for reducing current financial burdens on families. It is a responsible investment for the future. Fossil fuel based energy supplies are limited and demand will only increase for the foreseeable future. Peak oil is a reality and we need to take real action quickly to reduce our reliance on oil and towards other forms of transport.
I want to highlight that a transition away from growing an even bigger footprint does not come at the expense of prosperity. The Greens firmly believe in forging a green as well as a prosperous ACT.
In that spirit, we would like to highlight some of the co-benefits of reducing our footprint. For example, leaving aside peak oil and climate change concerns, traffic congestion in itself in the ACT is reaching a critical point. Anyone who needs to use Northbourne Avenue as a regular commuting route would know that waits in traffic of up to 15 to 20 minutes are typical in peak periods along the Watson to city stretch.
I think that we can all agree in this place how important it is to start taking serious steps towards reducing the ecological footprint of the ACT. We need a
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