Bob Baldwin (Paterson, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for the Environment) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to start by thanking the many members for their contribution to this debate. Some of them even managed to talk about the content of the bill! It was a wide-ranging debate, but I would like to thank them for their attention and contribution.

The Building Energy Efficiency Disclosure Amendment Bill 2014 will streamline and improve the efficiency of the Commercial Building Disclosure Program, which is underpinned by the Building Energy Efficiency Disclosure Act 2010. I would point out that the legislation underpinning that was passed with bipartisan support back in 2010. In fact, the background work on the Commercial Building Disclosure Program was initiated back in 2004 under the Howard government's national framework for energy efficiency.

The Commercial Building Disclosure Program is helping to improve Australia's building stock by encouraging all parties in a purchase or lease transaction to consider energy efficiency. Disclosing energy efficiency information provides everyone with access to consistent and meaningful information about the building's energy performance and makes it easier for companies to buy or rent more energy-efficient office space. Electricity is money, and businesses need to make sure that they spend their money wisely, effectively and efficiently. Reductions in consumption of electricity help the bottom line.

The amendments proposed in this bill are sensible measures designed to streamline the operation of the Commercial Building Disclosure Program and respond to industry suggestions for improvement—because, after all, they are the people with the skin in the game. The bill I introduced in the House of Representatives on 22 October reflects the government's commitment to not only reduce the regulatory burden on businesses but also support business flexibility and productivity. Key amendments, coupled with complementary changes to the regulations, will remove the need for energy efficiency assessments for transactions that are not market visible, such as between wholly owned subsidiaries or in the case of unsolicited offers from a single party. A further amendment will introduce the ability to determine a commencement date for a Building Energy Efficiency Certificate—a BEEC—that is later than the date of issue. This will help large property businesses who are wishing to proactively maintain current BEECs for their property portfolios where synchronising annual certification across a portfolio has become an efficient business practice. These amendments will improve the operation and effectiveness of the Commercial Building Disclosure Program and result in regulatory savings of around $600,000 annually.

In addition to this, the government has commissioned an independent review of the Commercial Building Disclosure Program, and I advise the House that a final report will be provided to the Minister for Industry in the first quarter of next year. In the interim, this bill will ensure that there is a streamlined process to provide consistent and meaningful information about building energy performance to the market to allow companies to make more informed decisions when buying or renting buildings. On that basis, I commend this bill to the House.

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