Former Labor minister slams Gillard's green building move

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This was published 11 years ago

Former Labor minister slams Gillard's green building move

By David Wroe

A FORMER state Labor minister has launched a blistering attack on the Gillard government's green credentials, accusing it of ''breaking its key election promise'' by scrapping $1 billion in green building tax breaks.

Tom Roper, a key figure in Victorian governments of the 1980s and early '90s, penned a scathing letter this week to Climate Change Minister, Greg Combet, warning the backflip would cost jobs and imperil Australia's reputation as a green leader.

"In a tough budget, indeed any budget, the Government has to prioritise" ... Mark Dreyfus.

"In a tough budget, indeed any budget, the Government has to prioritise" ... Mark Dreyfus.Credit: Eamon Gallagher

The letter, given to the Herald, followed the announcement of Tuesday's budget that the government would cancel its Tax Breaks for Green Buildings program, one of Julia Gillard's key environmental policies at the 2010 election.

Mr Roper, now president of the Australian Sustainable Built Environment Council, wrote ''in sorrow and in anger'' that cooperation between the building industry and the government ''seems to have been trashed by … (the) announcement''.

''What was to be a comprehensive plan to reduce emissions from buildings is now limited to the much smaller and uncertain effects of the carbon price,'' he wrote.

''It will … add to unemployment in the building sector in the foreseeable future. It diminishes Australia as a leader in climate change mitigation, in contrast with major programs in the United States and Europe.''

The scheme would have given tax breaks to property owners who improved the energy efficiency of buildings by having them retrofitted. It was due to start on July 1.

Mr Roper told the Herald the axing was frustrating because the industry had helped the government design the program. The resulting delay of a year gave the government the chance to axe it before it started.

Parliamentary secretary on climate change and energy efficiency, Mark Dreyfus, said building owners would still benefit from other government programs.

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''In a tough budget, indeed any budget, the Government has to prioritise,'' he said. ''Given the carbon price will be the biggest long-term driver in energy efficiency, we have decided to direct scarce resources to support low and middle income families.''

The opposition climate action spokesman, Greg Hunt, said the government had deceived the industry and broken a $1 billion promise.

''It is a damning indictment of how this government really runs its environment policies and adds to a list of policy disasters of pink batts, green loans, green start and solar hot water rebates,'' he said.

Greens leader, Christine Milne, said the carbon price alone was not enough to drive the greening of commercial buildings.

''We need to provide better incentives,'' she said. ''It is also bad faith with an industry who agreed to defer this measure because they wanted to get it right and are now being punished for doing due diligence.''

Master Builders Australia chief executive Wilhelm Harnisch said: ''While moving towards a surplus is important, this is at odds with the government's mantra about having to introduce the carbon tax and to reduce the carbon footprint.''

Follow the National Times on Twitter: @NationalTimesAU


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