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The Canberra Times
The Canberra Times
Jasper Lindell

Greens want to ban new gas appliances sooner in bid for faster climate action

Canberrans would be banned from installing new gas appliances from 2027 under a policy the ACT Greens will take to the territory election.

The party wants to bring speed up the capital's transition to net-zero emissions, fund gas-to-electric upgrades for 5000 low-income households and build more battery storage capacity to support a zero-emissions electricity grid.

The entire package would cost $88.5 million, the Greens said.

Shane Rattenbury, the party's leader, said the ACT Greens were "changemakers" who had driven faster climate action in the ACT.

"We know an all electric household is a cheaper household. We want Canberrans to get there as quickly as they can," Mr Rattenbury said.

"And finally, when it comes to the pace of ambition, the scientists are telling us we need to accelerate our own emission reduction targets. ... We will put laws in place to do that."

ACT Greens leader Shane Rattenbury wants the territory to ban gas appliances sooner. Pictures by Gary Ramage, Shutterstock

But Chief Minister Andrew Barr, who is the ACT Labor leader, said governments needed to implement practical and proven solutions.

"Some of the ambitions announced by the Greens today have question marks over how they actually would be delivered," Mr Barr said.

Federal Greens leader Adam Bandt joined Mr Rattenbury and Laura Nuttall, the Greens member for Brindabella, on the lawns of federal Parliament House to launch the party's ACT climate policy on Wednesday.

"The ACT is leading the country on climate action and has some of the lowest power bills in the country because of Greens in government. If you look around the rest of the country, you see Labor backing more coal and gas mines and making the prices worse," Mr Bandt said.

"But here because the Greens have been in government, you're cutting pollution and also ensuring that residents have some of the lowest power bills in the country."

Greens MLA Laura Nuttall, left, with ACT Greens leader Shane Rattenbury and federal Greens leader Adam Bandt. Picture by Elesa Kurtz

Mr Rattenbury said the party's commitment to banning new gas appliance installations from 2027 was designed to prevent people installing technology that will soon be expensive and obsolete.

"This is about stopping new installations. It's about stopping the problem getting worse. ... As your device breaks down, you should be replacing it with an all electric device," he said.

The ACT government is already considering a gas appliance ban. The gas network will be turned off in 2045 and gas connections for new houses in the ACT were banned in June 2023.

Mr Rattenbury said the future would be reliant on electric appliances, and the ban would offer plenty of warning to ensure the community could transition over time.

"The technology is available now and we'll work closely with industry over a couple of years. That's why there is a transition through there to start in '27 and to make sure that the tradespeople around town have got access to the right technology and training," he said.

Mr Rattenbury said Labor had treated Greens climate policies with skepticism in the past but the Greens had been able to work together to deliver faster change.

"I welcome the fact that they have come on board with these things. We've been able to make the case to get Labor to come along. But it's clear to the Greens who provided the real leadership," he said.

Mr Barr said Labor recognised the need to take real action to reduce emissions.

"In government we have done the hard work of developing practical programs that turn statements of intent and ambitions into implementable, practical and proven outcomes," he said.

"We have demonstrated how to reach ambitious targets through programs like our large scale renewable energy procurements, the Big Canberra Battery and the Sustainable Household Scheme."

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