Alderman Philip Cocker today questioned why the State Government’s plans for an energy strategy were ignoring the most significant energy cost to households.
Transport costs and the import of fuel is a far heavier impost on the average household than electricity costs. With a very high likelihood of steadily increasing prices this burden will become increasingly significant.

As an Aldermen looking at a strategies for the City and how people will move to and from the city it is imperative that Transport models and costs are considered as part of energy planning. The terms of reference released by the Minister mean that only half the job will be done.

The International Energy Agency has predicted a doubling of the price of petroleum products. This is a major threat and a major opportunity for Tasmania. The threat is of a crippled economy and transport sector where to do the same things as we do now will cost an additional $600 million dollars a year or more for petrol. Not to mention massive price rises in clothing, food, fertilizers, in fact just about everything we use today. We are already sending $300 million dollars more per year out of the State for petrol than we were a decade ago. Perhaps we can’t afford the billion dollar plus bill that we are already paying each year.

The opportunity lies in the fact that for every dollar we don’t spend on petrol and petroleum products means an extra dollar raised for expenditure in our Tasmanian economy. What an opportunity for the three tiers of Government to come together and craft a clever transition from petroleum products to job creating alternatives and save the State enormous sums of money.

Using carrot and stick we could implement bio ethanol plants, create an electric car conversion industry, create a hemp industry, facilitate healthier transport options ,tax imported water, be the organic food State, to name a few. This would all come with the financial reward of a dollar saved by not importing petrol would be a dollar available to spend on us and our businesses.

The Energy Issues paper will continue to take us down the road to eventual failure by not addressing the issue of petroleum imports, failing to understand the urgency to act now and the subsequent pain of pumping more and more money out of the State. Any energy review must consider all energy costs and significantly the most important ones to households.
Philip Cocker Alderman Hobart City Council