Page 3328 - Week 09 - Tuesday, 21 August 2018
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
I do not regard it as a name of reproach … Anyone who does not love the bush is not a true Australian.
The preservation of all native trees and open grasslands around Canberra being written into the original Territory Plan is symbolic of the way this love of the bush was fully embraced in the ACT. Around 40 per cent of the ACT is taken up by Namadgi National Park, and the city is blessed with nature reserves, green corridors, lakes, rivers, bushland, hills and mountains. In any other major city, Black Mountain and Mount Ainslie would almost certainly be suburbs rather than nature reserves, and today “Canberra—The bush capital” is on our number plates.
However, the phrase also serves as a challenge to the ACT and its people. At a time when Canberra is growing at 7,000 people per year, how do we continue to grow as a city while maintaining our green spaces? In attempting to answer that question, I invite everyone here to the making space initiative, to be hosted by me here at the Assembly on 4 October. I also endorse the answers the ACT government have offered to date in this budget and encourage the ACT government to continue its vital work in this area.
The ACT government will plant an additional 1,330 trees. Despite Mr Coe’s assertions otherwise during estimates, trees and, in particular, an urban tree canopy are incredibly valuable. The amenity and function that trees provide will only increase as our climate continues to change. Canberra’s summer land surface temperatures can be up to 10 degrees Celsius hotter by mid-morning. Neighbourhoods with tree canopy shade of 30 per cent or more can be up to 10 degrees Celsius cooler on a hot summer day, and the increasing occurrence of extreme heat tends to affect the more vulnerable in our community—namely the elderly and low income households.
Providing additional trees offers everyone a greater degree of comfort and can assist in lowering the cost of living through reduced electricity usage in summer. I have been regularly calling on this Assembly to continue its efforts around energy efficiency and reducing the need for electricity consumption in Canberra. The ACT government is continuing the energy efficiency improvement scheme to help achieve this, and already the scheme has delivered one million energy-saving items to over 70,000 ACT households and businesses. Importantly, lower income households are often the ones most impacted by rising energy prices. The scheme has specifically targeted these households and has provided 17,800 items to date.
In the 2018 budget $6 million will go towards the delivery of Actsmart programs that help low income households save on their energy bills. A reduction in energy consumption is the best way to reduce environmental damage, and it also has a direct impact on the cost of living. Lower electricity use benefits both the planet and the pocket, and we will continue to offer solutions for how Canberrans can reduce their energy usage.
As we move towards a carbon neutral city, transport will become a critical challenge. The shift to renewable electricity and electric vehicles will offer assistance. In the 2018 budget the ACT government has announced 50 new electric charging stations as part of its push towards a carbon neutral fleet of government vehicles.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video