Legislative Council
SUSTAINABLE ENERGY BILL
Second reading.
The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (Treasurer): I move:
That this Bill be now read a second time.
As for the previous Bill, which established the Independent Regulator, I refer members to
the second reading explanation which is in the Hansard from the last session as the
Government's reasoning for this most important piece of legislation, which is part of an
overall package of four Bills for the reform and sale of our electricity industry and
businesses here in South Australia.
The Hon. SANDRA KANCK: The Democrats welcome this Bill. Having read it well, I see that it is based largely on my Ecologically Sustainable Energy Bill, which I first introduced in 1996 and again in 1997 to set up what I named the Ecologically Sustainable Energy Authority (ESEA). As an acronym, ESEA, which can be pronounced as a word in its own right with a very positive meaning (for example, it is `easier' on the environment to use ecologically sustainable energy), has a much more appealing title than what I think the South Australian Sustainable Energy Authority will be known as, namely, SASEA, because ESEA has a meaning which is much more applicable to the industry.
It is really important that we have such a body, and that is why I originally
introduced my ESEA Bill. New South Wales has had its Sustainable Energy Development
Authority (SEDA) since 1996, and the South Australian Government has been dragging the
chain. SASEA will have a very important role in reducing green-house gas emissions in this
State.
My ESEA Bill was a very restrained one; knowing that the Government prefers not to
interfere in the market, I drafted it in a form that I had hoped the Government would find
acceptable, and although it showed disinterest in it at the time, I am not surprised to
see that the Government's SASEA legislation is very similar to my ESEA legislation. SEDA
(in New South Wales) is able to `engage in the development, commercialisation and
promotion of sustainable energy technology', so it is a very hands on organisation. In my
Bill I required ESEA to `assist Government agencies, manufactur-ers and entrepreneurs in
planning and programs directed towards the development and marketing of ecologically
sustainable energy technologies and services'.
The Bill with which we are dealing now tells us that ESEA will `investigate and
promote the development, commercialisation and use of sustainable energy technology',
which is fairly close to what I had but not so close to what SEDA has. It is very clear
that SASEA will not be as hands on as SEDA. Clauses 3 and 7 in the SASEA Bill are much
thinner on the details than my Bill was in regard to what the authority is charged with
doing, and I have placed amend-ments on file to ensure that the authority has more
direction about its functions. I think it is important that SASEA be involved with other
Government agencies in other portfolios, particularly in areas such as planning and
transport. I recognise that SASEA will not be making the decisions in these areas, but it
will be very capable of having an input into these other agencies and it is important that
it does.
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