Page 3857 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 25 September 2019
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MR MILLIGAN: From the beginning: I have been contacted by a number of residents in Gungahlin about the impact of the government’s strategy and the impost it will have on residents in Canberra’s outer suburbs, particularly the additional financial burden a number of measures pose. Do you believe it is fair to charge residents of Canberra’s outer suburbs more than those who live in the inner city?
MR RATTENBURY: I can assure Mr Milligan and other members—and encourage Mr Milligan to share this with his constituents—that the government has no intention of charging people in the outer suburbs additional costs as part of the response to this strategy. What I can assure members is that considerable thought has gone into this strategy to make sure that it is fair for all Canberrans that we make this transition that we need to make to be a low emissions city in a fair way, in an orderly way, in a way that is a just transition. That is the objective of the government here.
Mr Wall and Mr Barr interjecting—
MADAM SPEAKER: Mr Wall and Mr Barr, can you have this discussion at another time. Mr Rattenbury.
MR RATTENBURY: In regard to some of the measures that have been misrepresented under this strategy, I take this opportunity to reassure the community that the government is seeking to work with the community from a long-term perspective. I have seen the meme that the Canberra Liberals issued saying that I want to charge people $3,000 to $5,000 to remove their gas heating system. That is not our intention.
When I was asked, “What is the cost of replacing a heating system?” I answered in the following context: if your heating system comes to the end of its life, that is roughly what they cost, depending on your system, your house and all those sorts of questions. That is roughly what it costs to put in a new heating system. People are going to face that right now if their heating system breaks down, irrespective of the government’s strategy—absolutely irrespective. People are paying that this week to have their heating systems repaired.
What we are saying to them is: in a carbon-constrained future, when your system breaks down you should go to an electric system rather than a gas system. That is the message that is contained in this strategy.
MR MILLIGAN: Minister, do you believe that it is right to increase car registration in order to force people onto public transport?
MR RATTENBURY: The government is seeking to explore ways to change the emissions profile of the city. There are a number of ways we are going to do that. One is to encourage people to take up electric vehicles. We are already demonstrating, through our own government procurement, that the lifetime cost of running these vehicles is already on par. With a prediction that the up-front price of these vehicles will reach parity in the coming years and a roughly 80 per cent lower running cost for an electric vehicle, I would be saying to people who live in more distant places and
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