Thursday, 28 November 2024

Adjournment

Gayle TIERNEY (Western Victoria – Minister for Skills and TAFE, Minister for Regional Development) (18:02): I move:

That the house do now adjourn.

Gas policy

David DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan) (18:02): (1334) My adjournment tonight is for the Minister for Energy and Resources. The house may not be aware, but yesterday there was a set of regulations tabled, or details about regulations. This is about rooming houses, but it is also about residential tenancies. The surprise in this is that it is different from what was in the draft regulations, and there is speculation about the reason it is different. This is pursuant, even though it is gazetted by the Minister for Consumer Affairs, to the state government’s Gas Substitution Roadmap. The Gas Substitution Roadmap seeks to a ban gas in the state. It is part of the state government’s war on gas. The regulations that initially went out – the draft regulations – looked at banning gas replacement appliances in rental properties. Meanwhile, inside government they were preparing other regulations which would ban gas appliance replacements for all houses in the state.

We know that in this chamber the recent bill went through with the clause 38 powers. The government took to itself the power to ban anything to do with reticulated gas. So the war on gas stepped up a notch. The government even refused to deal with their own claimed position that they would allow gas cookers to continue, but when presented with an amendment that allowed that, they fought against it and voted that down. So we had the minister out there today briefing and saying that this will all go over to April. We have the regulations without the expected material.

A member interjected.

David DAVIS: That is right – after the federal election. I pick up the interjection. That is exactly where it is heading. They are going to push off the nasty gas war, the banning of replacement appliances, until after the federal election. That is what it appears is happening. The action I seek is that I want the minister for energy to come out and make a definitive statement. Either she has been monstered and rolled at cabinet and forced to back down on her regulations – her gas replacement regulations for rental properties – or, as she was saying to journalists this afternoon, it is all going to be in one omnibus set of regulations in April, potentially after the federal election. Is this an attempt to skate through with the gas ban to after the federal election, or has the minister been rolled? She needs to make a statement and clear it up.