Page 1667 - Week 05 - Thursday, 5 May 2016
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MS LAWDER: Once again, whilst we have already raised some concerns about the costs of the 100 per cent by 2020 renewable energy target on everyday Canberra households, what we are most concerned about is the lack of opportunity for scrutiny by the Assembly. I think it is a shambolic way to run the territory.
MR GENTLEMAN (Brindabella—Minister for Planning and Land Management, Minister for Racing and Gaming and Minister for Workplace Safety and Industrial Relations) (5.54): I am pleased to speak in support of this bill today. These amendments see the ACT hold tight to its position as a global leader on action to address climate change and safeguard future ACT governments against the external influences that affect our ability to achieve our emissions reductions and renewable energy targets.
I personally hold a strong interest in continuing to make sure we reach our target of ensuring affordable renewable is available to all Canberrans. Members would be aware that it was I who introduced the first feed-in tariff legislation which allowed local businesses and residents to affordably place solar panels on their premises when of course it was a much higher cost for PV and its associated equipment on rooftops. Thankfully the costs have reduced dramatically since then.
The past five years have been among the top 10 hottest years on record, with 2014 and 2015 consecutively taking out the number one position. 2015 was almost one degree Celsius above the long-term average, an alarming figure which has triggered global concern. This year has started with the global temperature for February and March 2016 being the hottest on record. The effects of climate change are no longer a threat for the future; they are here. The urgency to slow down this warming is greater than ever.
At the Paris climate summit in December last year, 195 of the world’s nations agreed to enhance their action on climate change. Here the federal environment minister, the Hon Greg Hunt MP, held up the ACT’s renewable energy reverse auction scheme as a shining example of sensible economics to achieve emission reductions. Minister Hunt is reported as saying:
… I have encouraged the states that if they want to do something extra, (they should) apply reverse auctions to the renewable energy target in the way the Australian Capital Territory has done.
The national leaders attending Paris put an emphasis on states and regions as critical actors to addressing climate change. I congratulate Minister Corbell on the work that he has been doing—the leading work and now recognised as such—at an important forum. Compared to all countries who committed to new targets for emissions reductions in Paris, Australia was ranked third last, ahead only of the oil-rich Kazakhstan and Saudi Arabia. In the face of the substandard effort of the commonwealth, there is little wonder that Australian states and territories are stepping up.
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