Page 4848 - Week 11 - Thursday, 21 October 2010
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focus attention on making sure energy efficiency programs are prioritised towards those who need the assistance the most—often also those who are living in the least efficient houses. As Ms Le Couteur spoke about, houses with high energy efficiency are much cheaper to live in and have very low energy bills.
With regard to refugees—because I think this is something which we will all need as a region to take on—in the face of climate change we must also consider not just as a territory but as a nation how we provide assistance to those people who are climate refugees. Many people here in Canberra pride themselves on their social justice platform when it comes to refugees, and I believe this platform extends to those disadvantaged and poorer nations which find their land physically at threat from rising sea levels. Many of the countries impacted in the immediate future will be those in the Pacific region, who are our neighbouring countries. Therefore countries such as Australia and New Zealand will need to take responsibility for assisting people impacted in the region.
I know that, for the CPA, the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, this has been a key issue which they have looked at. Obviously, we are all members of that organisation. We know there are nations already being impacted by climate change. Particularly in the region of Papua New Guinea, there are already people who have had to leave their homes because of rising sea levels. This is something we do have to consider as a region, and here in the ACT also, and take responsibility for.
In terms of transforming our transport system for a low-carbon future, there will be a substantial challenge if the ACT is to meet our 40 per cent goal. Canberrans produce more transport emissions per capita than any other urban jurisdiction in Australia. We have been, for many years, a city built around the use of cars as the main mode of transport. The government has in the most recent budget increased the amount of funding spent on capital infrastructure for public transport. However, more was still spent on roads than on services for buses.
This is a phenomenon that the government has a responsibility to change. We have a responsibility, not just the collective responsibility to reduce carbon emissions for our planet’s future but to provide the economic benefits and savings that come with the provision of a world-class public transport system. This is about creating a city that is not reliant on cars but gives people a choice in the type of transport they use.
We want all Canberrans to have the opportunity to take public transport. We should be creating a system that is fast, frequent and reliable, in order to ensure that families in the ACT can make the economic decision to go from a two or three-car household to a one-car household. Focusing on public transport can enable people to save thousands of dollars each year.
I have already talked about the affordability of housing in a low-carbon economy, but consider this one additional piece of information: the weekly whole-of-life costs for a medium-sized car are equivalent to repayments on an additional $125,000 on a mortgage.
The ACT Greens recognise that the most effective means to promote modal shift to healthier, cleaner modes of transport are economic ones. By lowering the costs of
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