Thursday, 21 March 2024

Energy policy

Tim READ (Brunswick) (17:30): (607) My adjournment speech is for the Minister for Energy and Resources and Minister for Climate Action, and the action I seek is that the government ban the sale of new gas-fuelled appliances in this state. I am mainly talking about heaters and hot-water services. The Bass Strait gas fields are running out fast. Victoria must either cut demand or open up new fossil gas fields. Global heating induced by fossil fuels is well underway. We had hoped to limit it to 1.5 ‍degrees and perhaps save some of the Great Barrier Reef, but those targets now seem unlikely. Ending the use of fossil gas or methane must now be a priority, both because of the CO₂ emitted when it is burnt and because when unburnt gas escapes it is a much more potent greenhouse gas.

I congratulate the government for stopping the connection of new homes to gas, but with around 2 ‍million homes already connected to gas, switching them all to renewable electricity is an enormous task that must start now. The cheapest and easiest place to start is when householders decide to replace heaters and hot-water services. They are about to spend money on a new appliance anyway, and they can buy either an efficient heat pump, which will increasingly be powered by renewable electricity, or a less efficient gas heater or hot-water service, which will cost them much more to run. The additional cost for a reverse-cycle air conditioner, for example, will be recouped by savings from the gas bill over time, but the government should also expand subsidies and no-interest loans to make buying efficient electric appliances cheaper.

The worst thing a government could do is to allow someone influenced by misinformation from the gas industry or low up-front prices on crappy, inefficient gas appliances to buy a gas heater or hot-water service today which will continue to pump out carbon for decades. People buying these appliances will also have to pay more in energy bills, as gas prices are predicted to soar year on year while renewable electricity will continue to get cheaper. Growing awareness of the health risks of burning gas inside their home, particularly the risk of asthma, is also likely to make more people regret choosing gas.

The government may want to consider exceptions in the short term for those with no connection to the power grid or those where the local grid cannot support further demand from electrification, but we must move faster to reduce gas consumption and lower household energy bills and we must ban putting new gas appliances into homes in Victoria.