Page 2355 - Week 07 - Thursday, 4 August 2022
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Residential Tenancies Legislation Amendment Bill 2022—public exposure draft
Statement by member
MR DAVIS (Brindabella) (10.40), by leave: I believe that, in my comments before, I described housing stress as households that spend more than 20 per cent of their income on their rent. According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, it is in fact 30 per cent.
Climate Change and Greenhouse Gas Reduction (Natural Gas Transition) Amendment Bill 2022
Mr Rattenbury, pursuant to notice, presented the bill, its explanatory statement and a Human Rights Act compatibility statement.
Title read by Clerk.
MR RATTENBURY (Kurrajong—Attorney-General, Minister for Consumer Affairs, Minister for Gaming and Minister for Water, Energy and Emissions Reduction) (10.41): I move:
That this bill be agreed to in principle.
I am pleased to present the Climate Change and Greenhouse Gas Reduction (Natural Gas Transition) Amendment Bill 2022. This amendment bill inserts a new regulation‐making power into the Climate Change and Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act 2010 that will allow a future regulation to be developed to prevent new fossil fuel gas network connections in greenfield estates and infill development.
As Minister for Water, Energy and Emissions Reduction, I am responsible for overseeing the greenhouse gas reduction targets set under the Climate Change and Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act 2010. Natural gas is a fossil fuel and accounts for approximately 20 per cent of the ACT’s current greenhouse gas emissions. Natural gas, or fossil fuel gas, is no longer the clean, green and cheap energy alternative that was touted in the 1990s. Electric technology has improved significantly, and clean, renewable electricity and storage is now a reality.
Research has shown that electricity is the most efficient and readily available technology to move away from fossil fuel gas use. The Grattan Institute’s Flame out report noted that a moratorium on new gas connections was a “no regrets” pathway to decarbonisation. Canberra’s own suburb of Ginninderry has proven that living in a cold climate without gas mains connections is not only possible but is the way of the future.
The ACT government has committed to phasing out new natural gas or fossil fuel gas connections. These commitments are outlined in the Parliamentary and Governing Agreement for the Tenth Assembly of the Australian Capital Territory and in the ACT Climate Change Strategy 2019‐2025. The introduction of this bill ensures that a future regulation to prevent new natural gas connections will not conflict with the gas
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