Christine Milne (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I now move Australian Greens amendment (5) on the second revision of sheet 6114:

(R5) Schedule 1, page 63 (after line 29), after item 119, insert:

119A  After section 23A

Insert:

        (1)    The regulations must establish a scheme for the inspection of the installation of small generation units for which certificates have been created.

        (2)    Without limiting subsection (1), regulations made under that subsection must provide, for small generation units installed after the commencement of this section:

             (a)    that each year a statistically significant selection of small generation units that were installed during that year must be inspected for conformance with Australian standards and any other standards or requirements relevant to the creation of certificates in relation to that small generation unit;

             (b)    that an inspection of a small generation unit is to be carried out by a person or organisation who:

                   (i)    is independent of the person or organisation who designed and/or installed that small generation unit; and

                  (ii)    does not have a conflict of interest in relation to that small generation unit or administration of the matters being inspected;

             (c)    for the transfer of information, about any failures to comply with standards or other requirements relevant to the creation of certificates in relation to small generation units, to State, Territory or Commonwealth bodies with responsibility for the enforcement and administration of those standards or requirements.

This goes to the issue of quality control. It is a measure for the government to be able to establish regulations to establish a scheme for inspection of new installations of small generation units. This is about quality control to make sure that an adequate number of small units can be inspected to ensure that we are meeting the appropriate Australian standards and any other standards or requirements relevant to the creation of certificates in relation to those small generation units.

Basically, this is a quality control program. We have learnt something from the insulation scheme, the green loans scheme and so on, and that is that you must have appropriate capacity to check and to audit installations and to make sure that the standards are met. I emphasise that the reason for the revision is that this goes to those units for which certificates have been created. That is the difference between the previous amendment and this one. I would recommend it because it is a quality control measure.