Page 3659 - Week 10 - Thursday, 19 September 2019
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We have also benefited from the investment that renewable energy has brought to the Canberra economy: $500 million of investment has been pumped into the local economy, with jobs in the sector growing at 12 times the rate of anywhere else in Australia. But as with any policy, we are always mindful of the dilemma—in fact the trilemma—of policy initiatives. For example, we always like to consider the affordability, sustainability and reliability of renewables.
The current government have secured renewable energy. They assure us that they can maintain that level into the future, but the affordability has been a long time coming and in summer there are often issues with reliability. We have seen that in some other states. These are the concerns that we keep in mind, because Canberrans complain to us about skyrocketing energy bills and trying to keep up with the ever-moving goalposts of changing policy around wood heaters, gas heaters and electrical heaters, only to be told over and over again that they need to dig deeper and sacrifice more to achieve the goals, leagues ahead of their neighbours across the border.
Notwithstanding our concerns about balancing social, economic and environmental issues, I am proud to reaffirm our commitment to a 100 per cent renewable energy target in the ACT, and zero net emissions by 2045. It is important that we lead the way, and we will continue to do so. That is what Canberrans, in the main, expect us to do.
MR GENTLEMAN (Brindabella—Manager of Government Business, Minister for Advanced Technology and Space Industries, Minister for the Environment and Heritage, Minister for Planning and Land Management and Minister for Police and Emergency Services) (3.14): I have just heard from the Liberals about trilemmas and changing policy. Like the rest of the Canberra community, I am sick of the Canberra Liberals and their utter failure to take climate change seriously.
Rather than working to better our city, those opposite spend their time trying to be more conservative than Mr Scott Morrison’s government, and trying to be more right-wing than Mr Tony Abbott. It shows how inexperienced the opposition are. Not only are they refusing to accept that climate change is happening; they are now attacking young Canberrans. They are belittling the very generation that will have to deal with the consequences if we do not meet the Paris commitment to limit global warming by two degrees or less.
In a week when students have been asking for their voices to be heard, in a week when this government has built on its leadership on climate change and renewable energy through a comprehensive new strategy, and at a time when ACT firefighters are helping to fight fires in New South Wales and Queensland caused by unprecedented hot and dry conditions, across the chamber we had Mr Hanson, a former leader of the inexperienced Canberra Liberals, immaturely posting and joking about the weather in relation to tomorrow’s climate strike. Madam Assistant Speaker, I will table the tweet that Mr Hanson produced. I present the following paper:
Climate strike—spring snow—Copy of tweet by Mr Hanson, 17 September 2019.
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