Friday 8 May 2009

Green bonus for first-home buyers

Summaries - Australian Financial Review
Thursday 30/4/2009 Page: 1

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is to push for a national co-ordinated strategy to improve energy efficiency in new homes at today's Council of Australian Governments meeting. Mr Rudd is calling on the states to support a six-star energy rating for all new homes built after 2010 following a warning by the Energy Supply Association of Australia, the Energy Users Association and the Business Council of Australia that duplication was adding extra costs to the building industry.

The Australian Conservation Foundation, the Australian Council of Trade Unions, The Australian Council of Social Service and the Climate Institute Australia also said this week that a co-ordinated strategy would help achieve the Government's aim to reduce emissions, especially if its emissions trading scheme is rejected by the Senate later this year. The cost of the mandatory building code would be offset by a revamp of the first-home buyers scheme, which is due to end in its current form on June 30.

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