Page 3632 - Week 08 - Friday, 24 August 2012
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Moving from water to energy, I would like briefly to touch upon the commission’s preparation of the territory’s greenhouse gas inventories. Questions asked during the estimates process indicated that the current service level agreement between the commission and the Environment and Sustainable Development Directorate locks in an ACT greenhouse gas inventory which costs far more than was previously achieved with consultants.
The ACT greenhouse gas inventory provides an agreed measure of the territory’s greenhouse emissions. It collects data from a range of sources and is a hybrid of the emissions produced in the ACT along with the emissions attributable to the ACT’s energy use—that is, associated with electricity used in the territory but produced outside the territory.
The first inventories in 2007 and 2008 were prepared by consultants for $9,000 each. However, the ICRC is currently charging the government approximately $208,000 per inventory. This is despite the inventories using essentially the same methodology.
We encourage the government to revoke the existing service level agreement as a matter of urgency. There is simply no evidence that the additional money has resulted in a higher precision or accuracy in calculating emissions. In the absence of further explanation from the government and the commission as to why the fee is so high, we can only conclude that this is an unjustified use of ACT taxpayers’ money.
In calling for this change, we do not propose a reduction in the quality of the inventory; indeed, over the coming years, as we work towards meeting the 40 per cent reduction target, accurate and detailed emissions data will be more crucial than ever before. As such we encourage the government to seek out new and improved strategies for preparing the inventory.
It has been suggested that the inventory might be better prepared by the commonwealth, given that they already undertake this work. We understand that they have previously indicated a willingness to do this. However, the specific methodology would need to be agreed upon before proceeding with this option. In seeking out alternatives for the inventory’s preparation, focus should be given not only on saving costs but also on providing greater granularity and, ideally, reducing the current two-year time lag for inventory preparation.
The current price being paid for the work is simply irreconcilable, so we look forward to this being corrected.
MR BARR (Molonglo—Deputy Chief Minister, Treasurer, Minister for Economic Development and Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation) (4.31): I will be brief. The ICRC do have a full plate in the 2012-13 fiscal year of providing advice to the government, to me and to my colleague Mr Corbell. The ICRC play an important role in ensuring non-discriminatory access to monopoly or near-monopoly infrastructure whilst also advising about price-regulated industries. One area that the government intends to monitor is the implementation of our insurance tax reforms. The ICRC may have a monitoring role to ensure that the benefits of this reform flow to consumers.
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