Julie Collins (Franklin, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Community Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We all know that all parties here at parliament have a commitment to reducing our carbon emissions. Where we differ clearly is how we get there. I want to talk particularly about an event in my electorate just a week or two ago, where the local council and Low Carbon Australia partnered to have a great outcome for ratepayers in terms of savings and in terms of reducing their carbon emissions. The Kingborough Council are one of the first councils in Australia to partner with Low Carbon Australia to cut energy use, save money and reduce carbon pollution. Specifically, they have replaced 648 old-technology fluorescent tubes with approximately 420 LED tubes in the council buildings. This has meant a saving of 75 per cent less power for the council, so the ratepayers are getting a benefit with fewer power bills. They are expecting to see a saving of around $11,000 per annum, or over $400,000 over the life of the project, for the ratepayers of Kingborough. So it is a fantastic investment.

Low Carbon Australia loaned the council $45,000. The way it works is that the repayments are on the basis of the savings of the electricity bills so that it balances out for the ratepayers. This is fantastic news for the ratepayers of Kingston but it is also good news about how we can all go about reducing our carbon emissions. As I said, both parties are committed to reducing carbon emissions; the difference is in how we get there. This little event was really worth while. We had the CEO, Meg McDonald, there. We had a look at some of the old fluorescent tubes and the new fluorescent tubes, the LEDs, and measured their output in terms of electricity. Frankly, the evidence there for everybody about the savings as well as the reduction in carbon emissions was very, very plain to see for all of us. We also had a tour of the new LED lights that had been installed, to see the difference in lighting in the council building. To be honest, you would be hard-pressed to tell the difference. If anything, it was probably a bit brighter.

I want to congratulate the Kingborough Council on its initiative in partnering with Low Carbon Australia and being one of the first councils in Australia to do that. I also want to congratulate them on the energy audit and cost savings that they have done as a council, and they have looked at all these issues. Obviously it is quite complex to go through a whole range of costs as a council and look at where money can be saved. It was fortuitous that that day in our local paper there was also a story running about another council, which had not invested in this type of technology and which were facing massive bills for some of their technology in the lighting of public streets. I would encourage councils around Australia and in my own electorate to keep talking to Low Carbon Australia. It is a wonderful initiative to have Low Carbon Australia out there supporting local governments and businesses. (Time expired)