Page 315 - Week 02 - Tuesday, 1 March 1994
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
The ACT has been an active participant in the development and implementation of national agreements, including the intergovernmental agreement on the environment, the national forest policy statement, and national strategies on biodiversity and endangered species. We have also been an enthusiastic participant in the national strategy for ecologically sustainable development, or ESD, and the national greenhouse strategy, which were endorsed by the Council of Australian Governments - COAG - at its meeting on 7 December 1992.
Our commitment to achieve effective implementation of these national strategies was demonstrated by the release in May last year of the ACT's own greenhouse strategy. As my colleague the Chief Minister mentioned, COAG has now released the first summary reports on the national ESD and greenhouse response strategies. However, space restrictions prevented the full contribution of each jurisdiction from being included in the summary reports. A lot of detailed information about the Government's environment management record in the ACT could therefore not be included.
In the interests of providing informative reports to the ACT community on these matters, the Government has decided to release the ACT's input as a separate report. While the information was current in November last year, when the ACT's input was provided to the drafting committees which produced the national reports, it has in some cases been overtaken by more recent developments. However, I see this as an opportunity to include in my statement today information about the progress the Government has made over the past few months in various areas of environmental management. Many of the initiatives mentioned in the report I drew to the attention of this Assembly last October in my ministerial statement on the Government's progress in implementing environmental initiatives. I will therefore use this opportunity to highlight some different initiatives which are featured in this report.
The report focuses on sectors and issues of particular relevance to the ACT. For example, mining and coastal zone management were not reported on because these sectors have little direct relevance to the ACT. One very important sector for us is energy supply and energy use. Through the Australian and New Zealand Minerals and Energy Council, the ACT Government has committed itself to shared funding in a number of projects aimed at achieving increased levels of energy efficiency on a national basis.
On the local scene, our electricity supply utility, ACTEW, continues to market strongly in the areas of both domestic and commercial industrial demand management, for example, solar and off-peak hot-water heating. ACTEW has also published buy-back rates and conditions of connection to encourage third party electricity generation and is negotiating with other interested parties over three potential natural gas cogeneration opportunities in the ACT. Conservation and demand management strategies for energy use are being demonstrated at ACTEW's energy efficiency display home in Banks, down in Tuggeranong. A cluster of three townhouses is currently being constructed by ACTEW in the Gungahlin suburb of Nicholls, which will show the cumulative effects of energy efficiency and water use by householders.
The Territory Plan, which came into effect on 18 October 1993, introduces a number of provisions relating to energy efficiency. In particular, the plan provides that from 1 July 1995 new dwellings will not be approved, except in special circumstances, unless they achieve a four-star efficiency rating.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .