Page 3322 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 14 November 2007

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .


Unfortunately for the Australian people, the initiatives suggested by the federal government, most notably nuclear power, are unwanted and, above all, unsafe. Our only nuclear plant, at Lucas Heights, has been shut down. The time, effort, cost and emissions it would take to establish one nuclear power plant, let alone 25, would take up to 15 years. Fortunately the Australian public knows better. We have not got 15 years to act; we must act now. We as a territory government have a duty to take leadership and encourage the social change required.

There has been much debate about what are the best ways to encourage, develop and adopt renewable energy. A book titled Feed in tariffs: accelerating the deployment of renewable energy, by Miguel Mendonca, was released earlier this year. A review of this book was undertaken by the ANU’s John Sandeman OAM. He says: “This timely volume shows clearly that feed-in tariffs have been by far the most successful amongst the various methods attempted to encourage the development of renewable energy sources for electricity production.” In his conclusions he states: “This book should send a wake up call to those who after years of denial about the reality of climate change are now admitting this fact, but still under the spell of the fossil lobby, can only see carbon trading schemes with either nil or only aspirational targets.”

I am pleased to be part of a Labor team whose members are clearly not climate change sceptics. In July this year, the Chief Minister showed the leadership required by releasing the ACT government’s climate change strategy. This is an important, forward-thinking document and one that outlines a detailed plan for the ACT’s future in its efforts to combat climate change. I was pleased to see even more funding announced yesterday for the initiatives that the strategy contains. Part of the strategy was the release of the 2007-11 action plan 1. Within the action plan are many well-thought-out initiatives. I draw members’ attention to action 18:

Introduce feed-in tariffs so that energy fed back into the electricity grid from distributed generation (eg. solar panels on buildings) is credited at a higher rate than energy bought from the distributor.

The ACT government has clearly outlined its intentions to pursue an effective feed-in tariff, and that is what I am proposing to the Assembly today with the Electricity Feed-in (Solar Premium) Bill 2007. I would like to quote directly from a European Photovoltaic Industry Association best practice report. They state:

In stimulation of PV market growth, a feed-in tariff is the single most important and most successful driver, when applied correctly. Other market support mechanisms … will merely prove effective as and when all sources of energy … reach the same level of competitiveness.

We here in the Australian Capital Territory have an opportunity before us that we must grab with both hands. Never has the need been greater. With this bill we have another opportunity to not only take the territory forward but also lead the rest of Australia. I have witnessed first-hand the benefits to a community that a feed-in law that is well thought out, well designed and well supported can bring. Parts of the developed world such as Europe and Japan have significantly pushed ahead with renewable energy development in the last decade—a decade when Australia has remained stagnant.


Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .