Page 5259 - Week 14 - Wednesday, 18 November 2009

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recommendation of the committee. I have added a new paragraph at (5), which acknowledges that there are other benefits for setting a target for emission reductions besides greenhouse gas abatement. I think it is particularly important for the Liberal Party to focus on that and understand some of the other benefits, because in their public comments they are not acknowledging those other benefits.

Clause 6 is also a new clause. It calls on the government to undertake certain actions. These are the examples of the rubber hitting the road, because, as I have said publicly, the targets also need timelines to make them real; they need concrete actions. These are the sort of steps that prevent what could be an aspirational target only from becoming greenwash and in fact really delivering.

We are particularly concerned about the delay in amending legislation to deliver stage 2 of the feed-in tariff for installations larger than 30 kilowatts. We understand that it is rather more complex than just choosing a number or percentage for extending the premium. There are issues around setting the correct premiums for various technologies, but we do need to move forward on this and not simply see it disappear out in the future. As I have said in this place before, the Greens are aware that there are industry players waiting to come to the ACT. They are just waiting for us to get this legislation in place. That is real jobs and real investment in this territory, which we would all welcome. That is the agenda behind my amendment. I do not want to speak too long in light of the hour of the day. I look forward to debating these further down the line.

Debate (on motion by Mr Corbell) adjourned to the next sitting.

Adjournment

Motion (by Mr Corbell) proposed:

That the Assembly do now adjourn.

Australian Baseball League

MR RATTENBURY (Molonglo) (6.33): I would like to speak briefly about the exciting news today that the ACT is to be a foundation team in the Australian Baseball League. This is great news and I, along with many other Canberrans, am looking forward to the first season commencing in November 2010. The campaign for an ACT team was called “Let’s do it Canberra”. I think it proved to be a good motto because they have now done it. During the campaign I joined with a number of my fellow MLAs in a public event to sign up as foundation members. We joined thousands of other Canberrans in pledging our support for the bid by, I guess, speaking out in support of it and also putting our $20 on the table to help finance the bid as well as signify our commitment. I am pleased that that group of MLAs is now part of what has become a successful bid.

When I made that pledge I met a group of local baseball players. It was great to have a chat to them about their aspirations. One of them even played in the American Major League for the Chicago Cubs but was a product of Canberra. Canberra has produced a


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