Page 4610 - Week 12 - Thursday, 15 October 2009
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strategy apart, we can probably understand why we have not achieved those emission reductions that were aspired to.
I note, for example, that the strategy made a commitment for government to purchase 100 per cent of renewable electricity for government operations by 2008. Yet, there we were in 2008, needing to put a measure into the parliamentary agreement between the Greens and the Labor Party because we were only at 23 per cent by that time.
Before I move on from this greenhouse strategy, I would like to note, Mr Smyth, that it is actually your signature in this strategy. I look forward to your contribution to this debate as well, because I am sure that you are committed to those sorts of targets and also to helping us meet the sorts of targets that scientists are telling us to meet now.
The next thing I would like to go on to is changes in how we use energy, how we travel, and how we build our homes and our city. Again, I agree: these are the fundamental questions that we all need to face, as individuals, as a society and as the legislators for this territory.
I agree with what the minister was saying but I have to confess that I am not filled with hope when I take the case study of our shining new suburbs that we are about to build in Molonglo. Here we are, about to put in a whole new town centre, yet I wonder if we are moving fast enough in terms of integrating progressive thinking on energy, water and sustainability issues. With respect to Molonglo, in a recent discussion with ACTPLA I was dismayed to discover that we are not even going to have guaranteed solar orientation for the newest homes in Molonglo. We have not yet managed to create the rules that will ensure that we have the cheapest, simplest, most effective energy saving measure we can put in place in terms of urban planning. It is not guaranteed for the suburbs that will be built in 2010.
I am also unclear what the public transport options are going to be from the outset of this development. If we were truly changing how we use energy, how we travel, how we build our homes and how we build our city, the public transport would be there right from the start, but it is unclear exactly what will be provided and when.
I thought the minister’s reports back on the CERT scheme from the United Kingdom were very interesting. The minister noted that his department is investigating it. I think any scheme that looks at large-scale measures to improve energy efficiency must be welcomed, because we need to stop tinkering around the edges. There is only so much we can do with small-scale rebate schemes and voluntary measures. Wholesale change will happen when we shift what is normal and what is acceptable in regard to home and building energy efficiency. Large-scale energy efficiency programs are what we need, and in this context I would like to note the recent findings of the climate change committee, which made recommendations to reduce the ACT’s greenhouse emissions by 40 per cent by 2020.
Rather than this being a frightening target, they indicated that this target could more than likely be met by energy efficiency measures alone. That is an inspiring realisation, but it is a challenge to every single member of this Assembly as to how we are going to meet that sort of target because we need to get on with insulating
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