Page 495 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 13 February 2013
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regulatory issues relating to their proposed rollout of the electric vehicle network. This involved the normal day-to-day work of the relevant officers within the ACT government, such as, for example, the electrical safety and technical regulation area in the Environment and Sustainable Development Directorate. There were no additional costs beyond the normal day-to-day operations of the government.
MADAM SPEAKER: Supplementary question, Mrs Jones.
MRS JONES: Minister, how will Better Place’s decision to close in Australia affect your stated goal of achieving zero net emissions in the ACT?
MR CORBELL: I thank Mrs Jones for the question. It will not impact on that goal at all directly. Obviously, it is disappointing that Better Place as a global company have chosen, at least at this point in time, to withdraw from the Australian market and their plans for Canberra. But they are only one of a number of private companies engaged in developing a business model around the supply, recharge and powering of electric vehicles.
We know that a number of vehicle manufacturers globally are continuing with their plans to develop and make ready for retail consumption electric vehicles, and we look forward to those continuing efforts. But the government’s focus in terms of achieving its greenhouse gas reduction strategy, as outlined in action plan 2, when it comes to transport fuels is predicated on growth in the use of public transit—that is, public transport services as well as walking and cycling—and it is not directly predicated on an uptake in the private vehicle fleet of electric vehicles, although that will have benefit if it occurs.
MADAM SPEAKER: Supplementary question, Ms Porter.
MS PORTER: Minister, what is the benefit of setting emissions reduction targets?
MR CORBELL: I thank Ms Porter for the question. Cities have a central role to play in both setting and implementing emissions reduction targets. The government on this side do not take the view that climate change science is some sort of exaggeration or is simply a statistical game where you can make statistics say whatever you want them to say. We accept the view of a global panel of scientists assembled from around the world for over a decade now that asserts the clear, verifiable and rigorously tested scientific evidence that climate change is occurring and that climate change does have a direct impact on global temperatures and therefore on the liveability of our world into the future.
It is the clear and overwhelming responsibility of all citizens to respond to this very real and present danger that exists in relation to our standard of living, to global wellbeing and to the ability for us to leave a liveable environment for our children and their children.
When it comes to the role of cities like Canberra, cities like Canberra have a very real and important role to play. Cities are the key generators of emissions. Whether it is in terms of transport fuels, electricity use or other energy use, we are the places that
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