Page 3130 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 24 September 2014

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MADAM SPEAKER: “Decarbonising” is not out of order.

Ms Berry: Madam Speaker, it is a new word, I think, that has been invented by those opposite while they have been making fun and they have been referring to the minister as the “decarboniser” or the “decarbonator”, when he is the Minister for the Environment.

Mr Hanson: On the point of order—

Mrs Jones interjecting—

MADAM SPEAKER: Order, Mrs Jones! You are not helping. On the point of order, Mr Hanson.

Mr Hanson: Yes, Madam Speaker. Mr Corbell referred to the fact that the government was doing everything it can to decarbonise. I think he characterised himself as the person leading the decarbonising effort. I would have thought he would take it as a compliment that he was the decarboniser, and it should not be ruled as unparliamentary.

MADAM SPEAKER: The general rule is that you refer to people when you are addressing them or speaking about them in a speech by their title. So it could be considered frivolous of members of the opposition to refer to Mr Corbell as anything other than Mr Corbell or by his ministerial title. I will remind members of that. Also there was no particular issue addressed to Mr Corbell on this occasion. But I think I need to be consistent and remind members that rulings and the former practice in this place have been to refer to members by their name or their title. I still do not think it is a point of order, but I think it is worth reinforcing.

MR CORBELL: You could accuse him of being frivolous, Madam Speaker, but you can certainly also accuse him of being irrelevant. The government’s objective is twofold. First of all, it is to reduce the carbon intensity of our electricity supply, to decarbonise it, and secondly to reduce consumption to better manage demand. The government is doing both of those things, and the Environment and Planning Directorate is an excellent example of that in practice because there are a whole range of energy efficiency measures supported through, amongst other measures, the government’s carbon-neutral government fund arrangements. We are seeing significant reductions in consumption in government office buildings. That is a good thing for taxpayers’ dollars. It means less demand for electricity overall. That reduces our electricity bill. At the same time the government continues to support the deployment of renewables across the—(Time expired.)

MADAM SPEAKER: Supplementary question, Dr Bourke.

DR BOURKE: Minister, could you tell us more about what these energy efficiency actions which you mentioned in your answer are?


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