Page 1097 - Week 03 - Thursday, 22 March 2012
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Therefore, it is clear that, without a statutory requirement, industry will not deliver a scheme to address the market barriers that exist to improving energy efficiency in the territory’s households and businesses. That is why the government’s sustainable energy policy, adopted late last year, identified the implementation of an energy efficiency scheme as a priority, and this bill honours that Labor commitment.
This is further evidence that the government’s comprehensive and coherent suite of sustainability policies can deliver real and effective change on the ground to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. And remember that we will adopt an overarching greenhouse gas reduction strategy through finalisation of action plan 2 this year, which will be complementary to and complemented by the soon to be finalised ACT planning strategy and transport for Canberra strategy, which the Chief Minister and I released on Monday.
Turning to the scheme itself, it is necessary but it is not radical. The ACT scheme is similar to those already successfully operating in the United Kingdom and in South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales and which is currently under consideration by the commonwealth as a national scheme. The scheme I present today is closely modelled on the successful energy efficiency scheme operating in South Australia but with improvements drawn from lessons learned from those other schemes.
Such schemes are complementary to a price on carbon and renewable energy targets, becoming, in effect, the third major pillar in the incentives framework that can drive our transition to a low carbon economy. As a market-based scheme, it provides the greatest benefits at the lowest cost. This has been acknowledged by the Prime Minister’s task group on energy efficiency and expert commentators such as Professor Garnaut, the Grattan Institute and the Productivity Commission.
Members may be aware that the ACT government, through the national partnership agreement on energy efficiency, committed to the development of a nationally consistent and coordinated package of measures to advance energy efficiency outcomes. In introducing our own scheme, the government is not walking away from that commitment. However, it is clear that, even under the most favourable of circumstances, a national scheme is unlikely to commence before 2015. Therefore, it is not appropriate for the ACT to delay implementation of its own scheme on the basis of a national scheme of unknown design emerging at some point in the future. And any delay in implementation will have a knock-on effect in terms of our ability to meet our own greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets.
Given that we know low income households are least equipped to carry the burden of cost of living pressures, it would be unconscionable not to progress this scheme and so run an unacceptable risk of leaving this group of households fully exposed to rising energy prices.
The scheme has four simple objects: to encourage the efficient use of energy, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with stationary energy use in the territory, to reduce household and business energy use and costs, and to increase opportunities for priority households—that is, low income households—to reduce energy use and costs.
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