Victorian Minister for Climate Action, Energy and Resources Lily D’Ambrosio has dealt another blow to Victorian homeowners, homebuyers, renters, and manufacturing workers with further unnecessary and ideological measures to restrict Victorians’ energy choices.
Gas Appliance Manufacturers Association of Australia president Ross Jamieson said additional measures contained in today’s update to the Victorian Gas Substitution Roadmap create further uncertainty for jobs and investment in the gas appliance manufacturing industry, where 132 jobs have already been lost to the Government’s extreme policies, and over 350 are expected to be cut in coming months.
The government proposes to phase out domestic gas appliances and require owners of rental properties to replace gas with electric appliances – with the almost certain consequence of pushing up rents.
“The document is riddled with promises of consultation with the industry. However, if the first iteration of the Victorian Gas Substitution Roadmap consultation process is anything to go by, these consultation processes are no more than a tick-a-box exercise,” Mr Jamieson said.
“To date, fundamental questions asked of Minister D’Ambrosio have gone unanswered. We have requested the modelling for each proposed amendment, details of government plans to support workers who have lost their jobs and information on how the government plans to address the added financial pressure these schemes will place on Victorian families.
“The Minister publicly dismissed claims her gas restrictions measures have caused job losses, and when provided evidence has said her portfolio is not responsible for this area.”
“GAMAA have reached out to the Minister for Jobs and Industry, as a matter of urgency, to discuss how the Government plans to support our workers through this transition period.
“The Allan Government has proposed measured in this updated Victorian Gas Substitution Roadmap that will only put addition financial pressures on Victorian families already impacted by a cost-of-living crisis. Their flawed policies hinge on the promise of future energy bill savings whilst Victorian continue to face surging cost of their electricity bills right now.
“These policies ignore the significant up-front costs of electrification to Victorians.
“The updated Victorian Gas substitution road map does nothing to decrease carbon emissions from an already fragile coal-based electricity system. In fact, it pushes Victorian families to cook with coal which with an even greater risk of blackouts and driving up electricity prices for no climate benefit.”
“It creates uncertainty around the reliability of energy supply to homes and puts hundreds of jobs in appliance manufacturing in doubt.”
