Jason Wood (La Trobe, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Justice and Public Security) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The issue of sustainability has gained a lot of attention in Australia as a means of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Sustainable housing is an area that has attracted particular interest, due its environmentally friendly methods of construction and its excellent record in bushfire zones. Sustainable housing will provide a way to help with the environment and the issues of climate change as well as with regard to housing affordability, something which we all agree needs to be addressed especially in Indigenous communities, and homelessness, which so many people across Australia are facing on a daily basis. Australia has one of the highest levels of greenhouse gas emissions per capita, and it is important to create a large awareness of other construction methods, such as sustainable housing, which are more environmentally friendly.

A constituent of mine, Mr John Novotny, has developed a sustainable building technique using rammed-earth construction. The technique has received a lot of praise as an environmentally friendly construction method. In fact, a study conducted by RMIT described the system as the future of construction. It uses eight times less energy than other building techniques. I congratulate John, who has dedicated a lot of his life to making this an absolute passion. He is one of the true believers in climate change, and I am obviously one of those also. I congratulate John for his dedication and perseverance with this. It always seems crazy to me that both the former government and the current government spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on, in particular, Indigenous housing, when that amount could be greatly reduced by using techniques such as rammed-earth construction.

The houses John constructs have a power bill of only $89 per year, which is extraordinary, and they have a very sound fire rating. When it comes to fires, especially on those extreme and catastrophic days, the only safe place is not to be in the hills but away from the fires and the fire zones. I again congratulate John for his passion and his perseverance.