Eric Hutchinson (Lyons, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Recently I welcomed the Minister for the Environment, Greg Hunt, to Longford, in my electorate of Lyons, specifically to launch Australia's first—and, until otherwise, disproved the world's first—carbon neutral brick. The brick was developed by Brickworks Austral Bricks team at Longford, which has a workforce of 22, led by general manager David Robertson. The brick kilns have been modified and are now fired using locally-sourced waste wood biomass, significantly reducing CO2 emissions. The annual reduction from 8,607 tonnes to just 215 tonnes of CO2 is equivalent to the annual output of 466 average Australian households. The company has initiated local energy abatement projects with the remainder of emissions offset through other approved voluntary abatement schemes. The certification audit covers all of the emissions generated along the supply chain, from firing the kilns to delivery of the final product to the consumer.

This is a great example of Direct Action at work and is evidence that businesses will innovate and do not need to be whacked with a big stick in the form of a carbon tax to reduce emissions. Last year Brickworks Australia paid $3.4 million in carbon tax. But perhaps the most significant story here is about the role that wood has played. Wood is the most renewable of all our natural resources, and it is wood that has helped deliver this great result for consumers and for the environment.