Page 1161 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 7 May 2014
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We know that Canberrans expect this government, the ACT government, regardless of its political colour, to take action on climate change, to mitigate the impacts of our city’s emissions on the environment and also to make sure our city is adapting to a change in climate. Over 80 per cent of households support that. The only people who do not support that would appear to be those on the other side of this chamber. We know that it has the overwhelming support of Canberrans. They support strong action on climate change; they support the ACT government taking action; and they support programs like the government’s large-scale renewable energy plans.
The government is focused on reducing household costs through schemes like the energy efficiency improvement scheme, a scheme opposed by those opposite but a scheme that delivers savings to households of around $200 to $300 over the life of the scheme. How is it that those opposite oppose laws that save households money on their energy costs? It is simply extraordinary. It shows that they just do not know, do not understand or do not care about the issue of helping households to reduce their energy costs through schemes like the energy efficiency scheme as well as supporting reduced greenhouse gas emissions.
Then there are projects like our large-scale renewable energy projects—supporting large-scale solar, helping to develop large-scale wind, helping to develop waste-to-energy facilities. All of these drive a program that shifts our city to renewable energy for its future, reducing its exposure to costs and reducing our greenhouse gas emissions.
These are the plans and opportunities that this government is driving, and I commend the amendment to the Assembly.
MR RATTENBURY (Molonglo—Minister for Territory and Municipal Services, Minister for Corrections, Minister for Housing, Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs and Minister for Ageing) (11.21): I am very pleased to have the opportunity to discuss in the Assembly today Canberra’s real priorities, courtesy of the motion of Mr Hanson. What I do know from the many Canberrans that I talk to, as we all do—this is not exclusively the domain of the Liberal Party; we all speak to many of our constituents right across the city on a regular basis—is that we have a very diverse community with a range of priorities. I think that to make generalisations about the inner and outer suburbs and priorities is a terrible generalisation. What I find is an incredible level of diversity. When one goes into suburban shopping centres or doorknocking in the suburbs, you come across the full spectrum of issues. You are never quite sure what issues are going to come up when you chat to Canberrans across the spectrum.
Certainly, my priorities are ensuring that we have a sustainable and fair city, and that is sustainable and fair economically, environmentally and socially. What that means is that there are a whole range of areas that we need to address, and that is the nature of the ACT government. We need to deliver on day-to-day services, the basic municipal services that a local council delivers on, as well as being able to tackle the bigger picture policies—the larger scale issues and some of the social issues that are important to members of our community, and that is a full spectrum of issues. I have
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