Page 869 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 27 February 2013
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
Another initiative in the parliamentary agreement is to revise the territory plan so that it is consistent with the 40 per cent greenhouse gas reduction target. And what that means is actually looking at the territory plan and thinking about whether the future city design envisaged in that plan helps to achieve the sorts of changes in the urban fabric we need to produce a less carbon-intensive city. There are a whole range of things there. I will not go into the detail now, because I think that will be a discussion for another day. But I think that initiative is very important because the urban design does literally last for hundreds of years. Certainly in a young city like Canberra, we have got a real opportunity to shape a city, with the knowledge that we now have, that will ensure that in 50, 60, 100 years time we have done the job to not have to try to retrofit so much.
Other initiatives are there in the agreement for people to see. They include implementing mandatory energy efficiency rating disclosure requirements for rental properties, subject to the satisfactory completion of a regulatory impact statement. I think it is really important that renters have the information about the energy efficiency of their property, and we need to do a lot more to encourage landlords to provide better-quality houses, more energy efficient houses for renters, because they are really caught in a nexus of not being able to improve their property because it is not their property to improve, but they are the ones who have to pay the electricity bill. And an inefficient, expensive house is unfair to renters.
These are the sorts of initiatives that are going to be coming forward in the future, and the amendment I have put forward will reflect those into this motion. As I said, our city has a great opportunity to deliver real change to make us ready for the low carbon future—not only policies that will reduce emissions but policies that will insulate Canberrans against the costs of climate change, policies that will protect the most vulnerable in our community, policies that will build resilience for this city and policies that will actually help tackle long-term cost of living issues.
We do have some inherent challenges in terms of population. Our rapidly growing population in the ACT puts an upward pressure on our emissions profile. Our density as a city, our revenue base, as well as some inherent advantages, such as our green space, our educated and thoughtful citizens and our unique governance situation of having territory and local government rolled into one—these sorts of advantages mean that we can do a lot here in the ACT.
I think that we can do a lot to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. We have set the right level of ambition in the territory, a level of ambition that reflects what the scientists are telling us we should be doing. We have a lot of work to do to get there, but I am optimistic that we can make real progress. I thank Ms Berry for bringing forward this motion today.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video