Page 2130 - Week 07 - Thursday, 20 August 2020
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The government amendments propose to insert new section 139(2)(t) into the act, which will require an expected greenhouse gas emissions statement for the proposed development to be lodged with an application, where the expected annual greenhouse gas emissions are above a certain amount. The requirement would relate to the annual amount of expected greenhouse gas emissions from operating the development. This means the emissions from energy use in the operational phase of the development and does not include emissions from construction phase.
The requirement to provide written information would apply to developments with expected annual greenhouse gas emissions above a prescribed amount, with the amount to be prescribed by regulation in the future following research and policy development about an appropriate threshold. These amendments also contain a new definition for the expected greenhouse gas emissions statement. The definition provides that the statement requires written information stating the annual amount of expected greenhouse gas emissions from operating the development. It is proposed that this information will be required to be submitted through an approval form which serves the purpose of the statement.
The planning and land authority, in consultation with the climate change and energy policy officers within the ACT government and other relevant stakeholders, will prepare information about the method for calculating expected emissions from various development types and where the services of a relevant professional may be required. This information will be provided to the development industry well in advance of the commencement of the proposed provisions to allow time for this documentation to be prepared and submitted with a development application.
MS LE COUTEUR (Murrumbidgee) (5.21): As we all know, the Greens are strongly in favour of action on climate change, and this amendment is a small step forward and thus will get our vote. The information that it should make available is useful for understanding future greenhouse gas emissions in Canberra and thus will be useful for guiding future action on climate change.
I accept that the minister and directorate have not been able to work out a suitable reporting threshold in the time available and will therefore need to set one later by regulation. I do urge them to set a reasonable threshold for this clause because that is what will give this clause a useful effect. Of course, if the threshold is set too high to be useful it would be incredibly disappointing not just for me but for everyone who would like to see our planning system build better for the future.
MR PARTON (Brindabella) (5.23): Mr Gentleman spends more time with Mr Ponton than I, and so I am sure it has been communicated to Mr Gentleman that there is some angst in the directorate about this weakened clause getting up. I guess that, when you consider the reasons that Labor did not want us to debate this bill, this is probably the moment. It is when we get to these particular clauses and the fact that Mr Gentleman feels as though he has to put forward an amendment of some description. I will be stronger in my words against this bill than the planning minister because you have to understand, Madam Speaker, that Labor is continually held
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