Tuesday, 10 September 2024

Energy policy

David DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan) (13:41): I think Victorians nearly fell off their chairs yesterday when we heard the Premier and the Minister for Energy and Resources come out and say that they were going to make changes to the Gas Substitution Roadmap. But it is a half-baked – dare I say – response, and the fact is that the government has not stepped back from the essence of their Gas Substitution Roadmap. They are still banning heating, they are still banning hot-water services and they are still banning new connections on new estates. Indeed they have got tens of thousands of proposed tall towers across the state, and they are going to ban gas connections in each and every one of those towers. The state government have not understood that the problems for gas are of their making. They have been in power for 10 years. They have not allowed exploration to occur. They have blocked and frustrated firms that would have searched for onshore conventional gas, and that would have put Victoria in a much stronger position. But the fact is Victorians should have a choice. They should have a choice about what appliances they put in their home, whether they are an Asian person or an Indian person who wants to cook on gas or a person of other descent who wants to cook with gas or whether they are somebody who wants to shower with hot water or have proper gas ducted heating for a cold winter. Instead of that, the government wants to condemn people, especially renters, to a cold time.