Page 3914 - Week 11 - Tuesday, 15 Sept 2009
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Climate Change, Environment and Water—Standing Committee
Terms of reference
MS HUNTER (Ginninderra—Parliamentary Convenor, ACT Greens) (10.16), by leave: I move:
That the resolution of the Assembly of 11 December 2008, as amended 23 June 2009, which referred the issue of ACT greenhouse gas reduction targets to the Standing Committee on Climate Change, Environment and Water be amended by omitting:
“(3) resolves that the Committee shall report by 17 September 2009;”
and substituting:
“(3) resolves that the Committee shall present an interim report by 17 September 2009 and present a final report by the last sitting in March 2010;”.
The Assembly referred this greenhouse gas reduction target inquiry to the Standing Committee on Climate Change, Environment and Water on 11 December 2008 for reporting back in July 2009. On 25 June 2009, the Assembly resolved to extend the inquiry reporting date to “by 17 September 2009”.
The committee’s inquiry has been made more difficult by the uncertainty around various international, local and national processes. Obviously, people will know that later this morning I will be tabling a report from that committee. But there have been a number of things going on at the national level, things such as the debate in the federal parliament around the CPRS. At a local level, the government has taken on the job of drafting an interim energy policy and also there has been the discussion around a zero emissions map for the ACT.
Of course, in December of this year we have the talks that will go on internationally in Copenhagen. We felt that all of these things provided, I suppose, a situation where we felt that we needed that opportunity, despite tabling the report today, to be able to come back and to look at a number of issues.
At the committee’s private meeting of 2 September 2009, the members considered the circulated draft report and agreed to rename it an interim report. The committee agreed to adopt an interim report with some initial recommendations and not to finalise the inquiry. The above resolution and terms of reference create an expectation that a final report is to be tabled by 17 September 2009.
The proposed legislation and climate change policy and programs need to be considered by the committee in light of a number of developments, the outcomes of which may impact on ACT greenhouse gas reductions. They include the things I have mentioned earlier in this speech—that is, the ACT government’s zero net emissions
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