Page 2334 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 5 June 2013
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MR HANSON: Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. Regardless of how those opposite see themselves—as transformers or otherwise—there is no doubt that there is a little bit of a contest going on between Mr Corbell and Mr Rattenbury in this government about who can get to the left and be the most extreme Green and who is the most progressive. Now, there is a race—
Mr Barr: The equivalent contest in your mob about who can be the most right wing is pretty amusing, too.
MADAM DEPUTY SPEAKER: Mr Barr!
MR HANSON: At least Mr Barr does not dispute what I am saying. He accepts the premise. He accuses us of the same but on the other side, but he certainly accepts the premise. No-one is disagreeing that there is a bit of a charge to the left. And the charge to the left is costing Canberrans. The charge to the left costs average Canberrans out there.
The feed-in tariff scheme, remember that one? Mr Gentleman certainly does. It was not such a success for him back in 2004 when he led the charge on the feed-in tariff scheme and the people of Tuggeranong gave him their verdict, which was a resounding no. And that brought Ms Burch into this place. But that is adding $225 a year to households. Now, that is all good for the people that can afford to put solar panels on their roof, and they are dotted across the muesli belt of the ACT. That is very good, and a lot of people are doing quite well out of that, but how many hundreds of dollars a tonne? The price was—
Members interjecting—
MADAM DEPUTY SPEAKER: Mr Barr, Mr Corbell!
MR HANSON: Those interjecting opposite might be able to tell me what the cost per tonne of that is. I remember it was $400 a tonne. The carbon price, that gem of federal Labor, is $23 a tonne, but the response from ACT Labor was a feed-in tariff that was going to cost average Canberrans $400 a tonne of carbon abatement. If that is an effective or efficient way to reduce carbon, then they have got me beat. I am not a big fan of the carbon tax, but I will have to say that a feed-in tariff at $400 a tonne is really something quite special.
There was also the renewable energy target for 2020. The figures around that for the average cost of electricity would see, based on today’s costs, bills increasing by close to $500 a year. The government’s own action plan 2 says that it will require $1.7 billion of private investment. We will see whether that is forthcoming, because all the available capital will be used up in everybody’s rush to get into that great light rail deal I am sure private investors will be queuing up for! There is obviously going to be a lot of this private equity people in the government think will be spent on all these wonderful environmental projects that are going to be littered across this town.
Mr Corbell: You really have no idea about the renewable energy market.
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