Mr McRae questions the progress of the Labor Party's election promise to create a sustainable energy agency. Mr Ripper responds by announcing the formation of the Sustainable Energy Development Office (SEDO).

AnsweredQoN 597Legislative Assembly
Asked
27 November 2001
Member
Portfolio
Energy

QuestionView source ↗

SUSTAINABLE ENERGY, ELECTION POLICY
Will the minister please inform members what progress has been made in the Labor Party’s radical practice of having an election policy and then implementing it? Specifically, what progress has been made to fulfil Labor’s election promise to create a dedicated government agency for sustainable energy? Mr RIPPER

AnswerView source ↗

I thank the member for the question. Labor went to the election with a policy entitled “sustainable energy for the future”. It needed to do that because the situation in the State regarding sustainable energy was not good. The take-up of green power was a woeful 0.01 per cent of domestic consumers, compared with 4.37 per cent in New South Wales, 2.7 per cent in Victoria and 1.9 per cent in the Australian Capital Territory. Of course, there had also been procrastination and a dispute with the Commonwealth Government, which meant that funding under the remote renewable power generation program had not come through. Western Power was generating only 0.03 per cent of its electricity from renewable resources, compared with 1.04 per cent in the private sector. Labor went to the election with a policy aim to promote energy efficiency and renewable energy in Western Australia. The Government wants those sectors of our economy to reach international standards of best practice. Labor said that it would institute a dedicated government agency that would give sustainable energy and energy efficiency the profile they needed in Western Australia. Therefore, on Saturday, I announced the formation of the Government’s new Sustainable Energy Development Office - SEDO. It will work to increase the awareness of people about cost-effective ways of conserving energy, and it will seek to educate people about ways of promoting renewable energy. I expect that agency to drive real change in our community. It will report directly to me. It has a separate budget, but it will be administratively associated with the Office of Energy, so that any duplication of administrative expenses can be prevented. This is a very important issue for the future of our State. Control of greenhouse gas emissions and promotion of energy efficiency and renewable energy constitute a significant environmental and economic challenge for this State in the future. I believe SEDO’s work will be very important in the State’s response to greenhouse gas issues. I hope that all members, including those on the other side of the House, will cooperate with SEDO to get the message out to the community.
Mr RIPPER replied: I thank the member for the question. Labor went to the election with a policy entitled “sustainable energy for the future”. It needed to do that because the situation in the State regarding sustainable energy was not good. The take-up of green power was a woeful 0.01 per cent of domestic consumers, compared with 4.37 per cent in New South Wales, 2.7 per cent in Victoria and 1.9 per cent in the Australian Capital Territory. Of course, there had also been procrastination and a dispute with the Commonwealth Government, which meant that funding under the remote renewable power generation program had not come through. Western Power was generating only 0.03 per cent of its electricity from renewable resources, compared with 1.04 per cent in the private sector. Labor went to the election with a policy aim to promote energy efficiency and renewable energy in Western Australia. The Government wants those sectors of our economy to reach international standards of best practice. Labor said that it would institute a dedicated government agency that would give sustainable energy and energy efficiency the profile they needed in Western Australia. Therefore, on Saturday, I announced the formation of the Government’s new Sustainable Energy Development Office - SEDO. It will work to increase the awareness of people about cost-effective ways of conserving energy, and it will seek to educate people about ways of promoting renewable energy. I expect that agency to drive real change in our community. It will report directly to me. It has a separate budget, but it will be administratively associated with the Office of Energy, so that any duplication of administrative expenses can be prevented. This is a very important issue for the future of our State. Control of greenhouse gas emissions and promotion of energy efficiency and renewable energy constitute a significant environmental and economic challenge for this State in the future. I believe SEDO’s work will be very important in the State’s response to greenhouse gas issues. I hope that all members, including those on the other side of the House, will cooperate with SEDO to get the message out to the community.
I thank the member for the question. Labor went to the election with a policy entitled “sustainable energy for the future”. It needed to do that because the situation in the State regarding sustainable energy was not good. The take-up of green power was a woeful 0.01 per cent of domestic consumers, compared with 4.37 per cent in New South Wales, 2.7 per cent in Victoria and 1.9 per cent in the Australian Capital Territory. Of course, there had also been procrastination and a dispute with the Commonwealth Government, which meant that funding under the remote renewable power generation program had not come through. Western Power was generating only 0.03 per cent of its electricity from renewable resources, compared with 1.04 per cent in the private sector. Labor went to the election with a policy aim to promote energy efficiency and renewable energy in Western Australia. The Government wants those sectors of our economy to reach international standards of best practice. Labor said that it would institute a dedicated government agency that would give sustainable energy and energy efficiency the profile they needed in Western Australia. Therefore, on Saturday, I announced the formation of the Government’s new Sustainable Energy Development Office - SEDO. It will work to increase the awareness of people about cost-effective ways of conserving energy, and it will seek to educate people about ways of promoting renewable energy. I expect that agency to drive real change in our community. It will report directly to me. It has a separate budget, but it will be administratively associated with the Office of Energy, so that any duplication of administrative expenses can be prevented. This is a very important issue for the future of our State. Control of greenhouse gas emissions and promotion of energy efficiency and renewable energy constitute a significant environmental and economic challenge for this State in the future. I believe SEDO’s work will be very important in the State’s response to greenhouse gas issues. I hope that all members, including those on the other side of the House, will cooperate with SEDO to get the message out to the community.
Labor went to the election with a policy aim to promote energy efficiency and renewable energy in Western Australia. The Government wants those sectors of our economy to reach international standards of best practice. Labor said that it would institute a dedicated government agency that would give sustainable energy and energy efficiency the profile they needed in Western Australia. Therefore, on Saturday, I announced the formation of the Government’s new Sustainable Energy Development Office - SEDO. It will work to increase the awareness of people about cost-effective ways of conserving energy, and it will seek to educate people about ways of promoting renewable energy. I expect that agency to drive real change in our community. It will report directly to me. It has a separate budget, but it will be administratively associated with the Office of Energy, so that any duplication of administrative expenses can be prevented. This is a very important issue for the future of our State. Control of greenhouse gas emissions and promotion of energy efficiency and renewable energy constitute a significant environmental and economic challenge for this State in the future. I believe SEDO’s work will be very important in the State’s response to greenhouse gas issues. I hope that all members, including those on the other side of the House, will cooperate with SEDO to get the message out to the community.
This is a very important issue for the future of our State. Control of greenhouse gas emissions and promotion of energy efficiency and renewable energy constitute a significant environmental and economic challenge for this State in the future. I believe SEDO’s work will be very important in the State’s response to greenhouse gas issues. I hope that all members, including those on the other side of the House, will cooperate with SEDO to get the message out to the community.

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