Sharon Bird (Cunningham, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise in the grievance debate today to draw attention to the federal government’s missed opportunity to support the desire of many individual households to take personal action on climate change. Last Friday I attended the launch in my electorate of Big Switch Projects, which is running a pilot program. The suburbs of Woonona and Bulli in my electorate have been selected as part of the 10-month program. The program is funded through a $400,000 grant from the New South Wales government.

The seed of the idea for the project came about rather simply. The managing director of Big Switch Projects, Gavin Gilchrist, was thumbing through an Integral Energy report which showed that five neighbouring suburbs in my electorate all faced similar peak supply problems. The Big Switch project offers Woonona and Bulli residents a discounted energy audit that will show the resident where they can save on electricity and also offers a range of subsidised energy-efficient products. There are extra subsidies for low-income earners. Woonona and Bulli residents are offered a home energy consultation. The subsidised energy products include: six compact fluorescent lamps; energy-efficient infrared coated lamps; a low-flow AAA-rated shower head; ceiling insulation at a 35 per cent discount on retail prices; energy-efficient fridges; change to a gas cooker, gas heater and gas hot-water system; and installation of a solar hot-water system and roof solar panels. The project is designed to cut greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 800 tonnes of carbon dioxide each year.

This week will be most important to the climate change and energy debate in Australia. As we read in the press, the Prime Ministerial Task Group on Emissions Trading will provide their report to the Prime Minister later this week. Events to try to address climate change and energy consumption have gathered pace over the last two years. Just last week the British government released its white paper on energy; the G8 prepared to meet under the chairmanship of Germany, where climate change will be the dominant agenda item; and Japan shifted its position ahead of the G8 meeting by announcing a global target of 50 per cent reduction on global greenhouse emissions by 2050. I acknowledge that the APEC summit later this year will also be discussing climate change, but despite the apparent new discovery of climate change by the government it cannot escape the fact that for over a decade it has refused to concede that climate change is an enormous challenge both domestically and internationally. In this fast-changing debate, I am also mindful of the impact of climate change measures on the poor and disadvantaged. I am mindful of the point made by the Brotherhood of St Laurence in November last year. That is why I was so pleased to participate in the launch last Friday of Big Switch Projects.

Wollongong and the Illawarra region generally, as many are aware, are heavily involved in coalmining and steel production. We host the Southern Hemisphere’s most competitive steel production plant, at Port Kembla. But, at the same time, we are playing our role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and considering energy supply more efficient. BlueScope Steel is considering building a cogeneration plant at Port Kembla worth between $500 million and $900 million. It would generate electricity of 120-megawatt baseload and up to 220-megawatt peaking. BlueScope has substantially reduced its use of fresh water in all plant production through an in-house recycling process. On the foreshore of Lake Illawarra, a modern gas-fired power station is under construction on the site of a long-closed-down coal-fired power station, formerly known as Tallawarra. And, at the moment, carefully anchored just off Port Kembla, is the wave generation machine that uses the natural power of wave movement in the ocean to generate electricity. As climate change and energy continue to rank as major concerns among the Australian community, I am very pleased that Wollongong and the Illawarra region generally is playing its part in better and more efficient use of energy, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and innovation by research and development in renewable energy sources.

The point was made by several speakers at Friday’s meeting that it is equally as important to find new and cleaner methods of energy production as it is to find new, better and more efficient ways to use the energy that we do produce. There is no doubt that many people in the community are increasingly keen to play their own role in their own homes in contributing to that effort. That is why on 29 April this year, the leader of the Labor Party announced that a federal Labor government would introduce a program to offer Australian households low interest rate loans of up to $10,000 to help make existing homes greener and more energy and water efficient. Some of the items Australians will be able to purchase under this plan will include: solar panels; rainwater tanks; roof insulation; solar hot water heaters; high-efficiency gas hot-water heaters, replacing electric storage systems; awnings; grey-water recycling systems; and energy-efficient lighting. It is along the lines of the excellent state program that I saw on Friday.

Federal Labor’s $300 million solar, green energy and water renovations plan for Australian households is a practical way for Australian families to make a real difference on climate change. This is part of federal Labor’s overall and comprehensive plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 60 per cent on 2000 levels by 2050. The solar, green energy and water renovations plan for Australian households will save families money over time on their energy and water bills. So this plan not only will provide efficiencies in the use of energy for the greatest impact on greenhouse gas emissions but also has the potential to bring down the cost as a family budget item.

This plan could generate up to $2 billion worth of green-inspired investment and benefit the small business sector, especially tradespeople. I am conscious of the vitality of the small business and trades sector based businesses, providing to homes things like water-recycling systems, water tanks, solar energy solutions and gas connections. In my electorate, I certainly see many of these businesses popping up now in once-vacant places. Labor’s plan will make it easier and more cost-effective for families to refit their homes. Many programs at the moment focus on the requirements for newly built homes. I have talked to a lot of people who have established homes who are disappointed that their capacity to participate in this effort is limited by their ability to find the money up front to make the required changes. Labor’s plan would introduce low interest rate loans of up to $10,000 to 200,000 Australian households with household incomes of up to $250,000, by 2012—to be repaid in line with their capacity to pay.

Government accredited environmental audits will be carried out to identify how these households can cost-effectively reduce their energy and water use in their homes. There will be a free green renovations pack, which will provide tips for green living, energy-efficient light globes, a shower timer and a water efficient shower head. There will be an option for families that prefer to borrow through their financial institutions to generate carbon offset credits through the voluntary carbon trading market. There will be help for households to save up to $800 a year on their energy and water bills and increase the value of their homes. I am sure many people are increasingly conscious that as they go to resell their homes the informed buyers are more often than not looking now for these innovations in the household. There will be a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by up to 15 million tonnes over the lifetime of the scheme. This one program is equivalent to taking around four million cars off the road for a year or planting another 15 million trees. The low interest rate program will begin in January 2009 and is expected to support 200,000 households over the period till 2012-13. As with all government programs, this plan will be revised based on the take-up and the success of the program.

Federal Labor understands that governments, families and individuals can be partners in reducing household greenhouse gas emissions and reducing pressure on our stressed water systems. Water tanks, solar power, insulation and eco-friendly building materials can all make a big and important difference to the energy efficiency of a home. The more homes that can participate in such a program, the more efficient and eco-friendly our communities will become. (Time expired)