Page 910 - Week 03 - Thursday, 10 March 2005
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This has hurt first home buyers as well. Mr Corbell certainly made some good points on housing affordability. He said that we should be very careful before adopting mandatory benchmarks. He has a slightly different view on how to do things.
In Mr Corbell’s grand plan there would be no need to regulate because, let us face it, the LDA would be doing everything—the LDA would be building all the buildings in Canberra in the end game and then there would be no need to regulate, would there? The LDA would be doing the business for you; Mr Corbell would just be directing. Of course, we would not agree with that either. We have some fundamental disagreements with both Dr Foskey’s position and with some of the direction the government is taking. I certainly have particular concerns about what that is doing for housing affordability in this place.
MR GENTLEMAN (Brindabella) (5.02): On 16 February the Assembly agreed that the government would report back to the Assembly on an annual basis on the progress made in implementing its sustainability strategies. This government recognises that, in order to achieve real sustainability outcomes, people must be encouraged to change and be made aware of the concrete steps that they as individuals can take to assist in achieving sustainability.
It is government’s role to help to facilitate this employment. Thus, the Stanhope Labor government has developed a range of incentives which increase housing and transport choices in accessible urban locations and which provide access to information about goods and services which support sustainable living decisions. This is more effective than the mandatory big stick approach.
The sustainable transport plan, for example, contains a series of goals to reduce the costs of transport, including greenhouse gases, noise, air pollution and other negative environmental effects of transport. These goals include shifting the balance of travel from private vehicles towards walking, cycling and public transport; supporting a more sustainable urban structure and form which will increase accessibility, facilitate an improved quality of life and respond more effectively to environmental factors; and changing community attitudes and behaviours to support sustainable transport throughout the city.
All of these measures contribute in a very real way to benchmarks for sustainable development. The think water, act water strategy includes a series of targets to ensure that the ACT has an adequate, secure water supply into the future. In the think water, act water strategy the government has set water targets of a reduction in per capita consumption of mains water by 12 per cent by 2013 and 25 per cent by 2023, through water efficiency measures, sustainable water recycling, the use of stormwater and rainwater, and increasing the use of reclaimed water from five per cent to 20 per cent by 2013.
A range of measures will be used to achieve these targets, such as providing a rebate on AAA showerheads; subsidising household water tune-ups; subsidising household garden tune-ups; subsidising the provision and fitting of AAA 6/3 dual-flush toilets in place of single-flush toilets; providing a rainwater tank rebate scheme; information and awareness programs that provide advice to householders, businesses and the government sector; supporting a national scheme for compulsory water efficiency labelling of appliances;
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