Page 1782 - Week 06 - Thursday, 30 July 2020
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The bill introduces a new requirement for reporting entities to give the minister any other information reasonably required to ensure the accuracy of information provided for annual reporting purposes. It also makes clear that it is an offence if a reporting entity is required to give the minister information and either fails to do so or provides information that is false or misleading and the reporting entity knows it or is reckless about it. The bill also broadens the ability of the minister to request a reporting entity to undertake an audit for annual reporting purposes if the minister believes the collected data information is false, misleading or incomplete, and failure to undertake the audit is also an offence.
Scrutiny report 44 had some remarks to make on the legislation, suggesting the bill may limit the right to a fair trial protected by section 21 of the Human Rights Act. It noted that in making any determination the minster must ensure that the electricity distributor, eligible entities and ACT electricity consumers are not unreasonably financially disadvantaged by the determination, and any determination is by way of a disallowable instrument. Whilst we are, and will always be, conscious of the rising costs of living for all Canberrans, the Canberra Liberals believe these amendments provide for increased transparency and accuracy in data collection, make the administration of the data more accurate, and provide more confidence to participants about exactly what they are paying and getting paid.
In the briefing, officials advised that, whilst the exact costs are yet to be determined, it will be lower than the cost under large generation, which currently adds approximately 30c to the annual bill per household affected. They estimate that any additional financial impost on households would ultimately be less than 30c per year. Officials also advised that they expect the total annual cost for Evoenergy to administer the scheme will be between $100,000 and $150,000 each year. The administration costs are separate from any other subsidy payments. In practice, these costs are already passed on to consumers as part of the normal operating costs of Evoenergy.
Under those understandings, the robust increase in transparency and accuracy of data, and following the recommendations of the audit and the strong assurances from officials on the minimum cost impost on households, the Canberra Liberals support this bill.
MR GENTLEMAN (Brindabella—Minister for Advanced Technology and Space Industries, Minister for the Environment and Heritage, Minister for Planning and Land Management, Minister for Police and Emergency Services and Minister for Urban Renewal) (4.48): I rise with pleasure today to talk about the Electricity Feed-in (Renewable Energy Premium) Amendment Bill 2020. As a Labor member in this place, I am very proud of the steps that members of our movement have taken to protect the environment. Our party does not just talk about protecting the environment; we act. And we have shown that you can be sustainable and grow jobs.
It took a Labor government to create the first state park in Australia, now known as Kosciusko National Park. It took a Labor government to protect the Franklin River by enacting the World Heritage Properties Conservation Act. It was a Labor Prime Minister who led world efforts to protect and preserve Antarctica as a natural reserve
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