Page 1398 - Week 06 - Tuesday, 5 June 2007
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provision of fuel sales data from the ACT retailers for the calculation of the relevant greenhouse gas emissions. This will facilitate the monitoring of the implementation of the climate change strategy.
Since this legislation will greatly assist in the collection of accurate data and therefore the improved monitoring of greenhouse gases as part of the upcoming climate change strategy, it is instructive to discuss that strategy of which this bill will form a part. The climate change strategy will provide an overview of climate change, our current activities, our vision for responding to climate change and proposed actions to get us there. It has evolved from a discussion paper released in March 2006 to which many submissions from the public, business and community groups were received.
The ACT will be affected by climate change and should prepare for our future to ensure we remain a strong and sustainable community. Climate change will impact on health, agriculture, water availability, the natural environment and urban planning. We need to take actions to abate or reduce our greenhouse emissions as well as to adapt to the changes that will occur. This is a challenge the whole ACT community must embrace.
Discussions with industry indicate that service station owners have this data available but are concerned about maintaining its confidentiality, as this information is a key indicator of a station’s financial performance. Indeed, this particular amendment was discussed with the motor trades association and the motor trades association indicated their support of the legislation with the proviso that the confidentiality of individual service station owners be maintained. Therefore, as a consequence of the consultation with the motor trades association and their one explicit stated concern with the legislation—namely, the confidentiality of their members—the proposed legislation clearly states, in response to the motor trades association, that the data collected can only be used for the calculation of the associated emissions and be released only in an aggregated format so that individual service stations will not be identifiable.
This bill is an essential component of our overall greenhouse strategy and will assist us greatly in monitoring greenhouse gases. The government is committed to developing a climate change strategy with a strong response to the issues of climate change. An effective means of monitoring our emissions is an important underpinning of a strong and measurable strategy.
The ACT government has a critical role in providing the right political and administrative culture to nurture and promote sustainable practices in the community and business sector. We will lead by example, ensuring our own practices limit emissions and take into account the impacts of climate change.
Provision of this data will not present any significant administrative burden on the businesses involved. Retailers will only be required to submit their total sales in litres for each fuel type; that is, unleaded petrol, lead replacement petrol, premium unleaded, diesel and LPG. This specific information is already held by service station owners for taxation and operational reasons. The government will be able to produce an accurate inventory of greenhouse gas emissions from the transport sector in the ACT based on precise fuel sales data. This will in turn enable the government to develop appropriate emission abatement measures.
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