Page 1581 - Week 05 - Tuesday, 14 May 2019
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
Planning—variation 362 to the Territory Plan
MR GENTLEMAN (Brindabella—Minister for the Environment and Heritage, Minister for Planning and Land Management, Minister for Police and Emergency Services and Minister assisting the Chief Minister on Advanced Technology and Space Industries) (3.12): Pursuant to standing order 211, I move:
That the Assembly take note of the following paper:
Planning and Development Act, pursuant to subsection 79(1)—Approval of Variation No 362 to the Territory Plan—Amendments to the West Belconnen Concept Plan for Ginninderry Stage 2 Development.
MR RATTENBURY (Kurrajong—Minister for Climate Change and Sustainability, Minister for Corrections and Justice Health, Minister for Justice, Consumer Affairs and Road Safety and Minister for Mental Health) (3.12): I welcome the tabling of this variation. I think this is an important development in thinking about the future of Canberra and how we meet the challenges that lie ahead of us in reducing our greenhouse gas emissions in the ACT.
As members will perhaps have heard me say before, once the ACT reaches a point of using 100 per cent renewable electricity, we will then be in a situation where around 60 per cent of our greenhouse gas emissions will come from the transport sector and another 20 per cent or so will come from the use of natural gas. This tells us that dealing with those natural gas emissions is going to be a significant challenge.
The proposal from the developers of Ginninderry to build an all-electric suburb is very interesting to the government in this context. It provides a real, live example of what is possible, what today’s technology allows and the economics of the scenario.
Clearly, with 100 per cent of our electricity coming from renewable sources, using all electric technology points to emissions-free operation of households if people take up that option. There is a significant opportunity there for people to have an impact on the environment by choosing this option, a very positive impact on the environment.
It is—and this is, I think, the exciting part—not only a win for the environment but also a win for the hip pockets of the households that choose to go down this path. The team at Ginninderry have done the modelling on this and they have identified that Ginninderry residents will also save money, with energy modelling for the pilot finding that households will save over $14,000 when using all electrical appliances, compared to gas, over the life of the appliances.
This is a not insignificant amount of money. It is, I think, a very attractive scenario. They are very clear in their work, when they are talking to households who want to take up this option, that there are some greater up-front costs but that the overall lifetime savings are significant. For someone buying their home, and we know that most people do not move that often, this is an attractive option where a little extra money up-front has the real potential to make savings.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video