Page 2787 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 17 September 2014
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I move this amendment to Dr Bourke’s motion today because I am deeply concerned about the effect that pursuing these ideological targets will have on our city. Surely we cannot all sit here knowing that electricity generated from wind power will cost three to four times more than our current electricity supply and say that prices will not increase for ACT residents by more than a cup of coffee a week. We are talking three or four times more. Who is absorbing that cost?
The climate change and greenhouse gas reduction annual report 2012-13 states:
… electricity prices are forecast to increase by up to 16% to fund renewable energy investment and ensure our greenhouse gas abatement targets are met.
It goes on to say:
… the costs are distributed across all electricity customers.
These targets will increase electricity costs for households and businesses in the ACT. I know prices will increase. Minister Corbell knows prices will increase. It is no secret. But the real question is by exactly how much. In response to Dr Bourke’s motion today, I am calling on the minister to table the documents which relate to the modelling and which show electricity prices will increase by 16 per cent—the modelling that makes Minister Corbell comfortable with enforcing this unrealistic, idealistic target on the smaller jurisdiction of the ACT. If the minister has nothing to hide then I have no doubt he will cooperate and agree to table this modelling today in the Assembly and support the amendment. Based on previous statements by our Chief Minister, this government would want to be so open and transparent.
The ACT accounts for not even half of one per cent of Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions—not even half of one per cent. In the ACT in 2011 our emissions accounted for 0.212 per cent of the emissions produced in Australia. It is important to reduce our emissions, but we are more concerned here about having bragging rights than anything else. As long as the government can say their tram line is underway and we have the highest renewable targets in the country, they seem to be happy and, as we covered yesterday, take all the credit without any of the negative consequences. The minister has found a way to have the bragging rights of the targets while just throwing the negative consequences of the policy over the border. Those residents cannot vote for him, so why would he care?
The review which was commissioned by the federal government into the current commonwealth renewable energy targets states:
… the RET is a high cost approach to reducing emissions because it does not directly target emissions and it only focuses on electricity generation. It promotes activity in renewable energy ahead of alternative, lower cost options for reducing emissions that exist elsewhere in the economy. In the presence of lower cost alternatives, the costs imposed by the RET are not justifiable.
The government continually attempts to paint the Canberra Liberals as anti renewable energy. This is not at all the case. However, as we have stated before, we need to
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