Page 622 - Week 03 - Thursday, 15 March 2007
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address remarks through the chair. Do we stand behind it and speak through the back of the chair? We do not. I am now addressing the chair. It is just that I am not facing the chair. I am not required to face the chair. I am required to address the chair. It is kindergarten, childish nonsense which you go on with in this perpetual, repeated point of order that to address the chair you must face the chair at all times.
Dr Foskey, we take sustainability and climate change seriously. It is one of the most serious issues facing us, acknowledging that the ACT is responsible for only one per cent of the greenhouse gas emissions in Australia, and Australia is only responsible for just under one per cent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. But, with the leadership that we normally show on all issues, this government is concerned to lead this community and to work with this community in dealing with these most pressing issues, and we are doing that through a raft of programs. I am happy to detail those if you have a supplementary question.
DR FOSKEY: I ask a supplementary question. Could the responsible minister—and I do know that he at least will be a he—advise the Assembly whether the Sustainability Expert Reference Group will continue to advise him on sustainability, energy and water policies, given that he still has responsibility for these matters, or whoever has responsibility for these matters, and especially given that I believe it has not met for a long time?
MR STANHOPE: One of the significant initiatives of this government was to appoint the Sustainability Expert Reference Group in 2002. Indeed, it was the first such group established in Australia. It was established by me to advise me as the then minister on sustainability issues. This was an Australian first. We were the first government in Australia to establish, particularly within a head of government’s department, an office of sustainability. We were the first government in Australia to appoint an expert reference group on sustainability—the Sustainability Expert Reference Group. These, of course, are initiatives of which I am proud. I am glad that you acknowledge their importance, Dr Foskey.
We are, of course, through the work that we have done on the development of a new climate change strategy, looking again at the way in which, in a rapidly changing environment, we deal with issues around climate change, greenhouse gas emissions and sustainability. We need constantly and continually to assess and reassess the best way forward in relation to these complex issues. In the context of that, it is appropriate that we review the best governance models for taking these particular issues forward, for getting access to the best science and advice, and to have available to us the best processes for working with the community.
Many of the initiatives that communities will have to pursue in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions will be successful only if they are adopted and embraced by the community. The government has a role but the government acknowledges that 69 per cent of our greenhouse gas emissions are produced by the utilisation of electricity and that just under 30 per cent of our greenhouse gas emissions come from the use of petrol. These are issues that will require the significant cooperation of the Canberra community just, of course, as our very successful efforts at reducing the consumption of water relied almost exclusively on the community.
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