Page 2034 - Week 07 - Tuesday, 28 May 1991
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has been made available. Over the last few months the issue of the most effective organisational structures for those staff has been reviewed, and some streamlining of arrangements has taken place.
I am advised that negotiations with the authority on these matters are continuing, and it is our intention to ensure that an appointment of a chief executive is made at an appropriate time. The question of advertising does not arise. The appointment is a statutory appointment made by the head of administration. It is the appointment of a public servant to undertake particular functions for the purposes of the Vocational Training Act. So, Mr Berry's question was predicated on a wrong assumption, as they usually are.
Energy Sources
MR KAINE: Mr Speaker, the second question was one from Ms Follett on 2 May, and it had to do with meeting environment targets which were set out in our environment paper of June 1990. In the Alliance Government's environment policy, released on World Environment Day in 1990, we made a number of commitments to the Canberra community to maintain and improve the ACT's high quality natural and urban environment. I am pleased to say that, nearly one year on, the Government has an environmental record which I believe that it can be proud of.
The area of energy, in particular, is one where the Government has undertaken a number of significant initiatives aimed at achieving the targets identified in the environment strategy. In that strategy the Government made a commitment to improving the energy efficiency of government buildings. As I highlighted in the environment budget last September, the Government will be spending $1.1m in this fiscal year to improve energy efficiency in schools, ACTION depots and the Motor Vehicle Registry. Not only will the implementation of these measures result in savings of $350,000 a year, but there will be benefits to the environment in the form of reductions of nearly 4,000 tonnes per year in the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere.
The transport sector is the largest consumer of energy in the ACT and is a priority area for energy conservation initiatives. One major way of reducing the level of consumption is to maximise the utilisation of public transport by augmenting and upgrading services. Initiatives being carried out by ACTION, including the ongoing bus replacement program and the investigation of the use of compressed natural gas powered vehicles, will allow more economic and less polluting use of fuel, again resulting in financial savings as well as a positive environmental impact.
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