Mr BARRESI (4:59 PM) —I grieve today for those many thousands of well-intentioned and environmentally concerned constituents who have been susceptible to the Greens party propaganda that it is only they who care and can deliver on issues affecting our environment. I also grieve for those inventive and proactive industry leaders who are at the forefront of products and processes aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and energy conservation. Those industry leaders have to face the gauntlet of both a hostile green movement, which has abandoned them, and more traditional industries, trying to squeeze them out through competitive market pressure.

Old forest clearing and greenhouse gas abatement are important issues that deserve extensive debate and support, but let us not make them the signature issues by which all others are judged. Let us also support and recognise the work of our dedicated local environment groups and industry leaders who are paving the way for a sustainable environment. I am proud of the many good projects and industry initiatives that are up and running in Deakin. Behind these initiatives are people committed to improving our area and working on longer term plans to ensure our native bushland and significant cultural centres are preserved and protected.

These local organisations are working hard to revegetate areas like the Blackburn Lake Sanctuary—a sanctuary to various species of fauna; an ecological sanctuary which, like so many others, relies entirely on local volunteers. Similarly, areas like the Mullum Mullum Valley, Dandenong Creek, Loughie's Bushland, Cootmundara Walk and Wurrundjeri Wetlands, just to name a few, are locally significant areas which the community plays an important role in protecting and enhancing. There is also a concerted effort to push for a master plan to redress the concerns with the waterways flowing from Dandenong and Mullum Mullum creeks.

These are big picture projects generated by people who have a broader view of environmental policy, but the Greens seem to dismiss these projects and any active support for them as insignificant, preferring instead to judge all behaviour and all environmental credentials against the big national issues of Kyoto and native forest clearing. Furthermore, the local green movement has been silent in not lending their support to promote energy efficiency and greenhouse gas abatement by home-grown forward thinkers. Two such local organisations, HyChill, which has developed a HC refrigerant gas, and Powerpax, are right in my electoral backyard. They are leaders in their field, with growing domestic and export sales. I will speak a little more on HyChill later on.

I was recently introduced to Mr Gavin Blackwood at Powerpax. His team, who are Turbocor compressor inventors, has revolutionised the chiller industry worldwide and it is located right in my backyard. Powerpax manufactures chillers using the Turbocor compressor. Powerpax chillers have been installed in the AXA building in the city, Macquarie University, Newcastle University, the Coles-Myer headquarters in Burwood, Myers in the Chadstone complex and many other major sites. Energy savings of up to 40 per cent are not unusual. On big buildings this represents a very large contribution to reduction in energy usage and, consequently, a substantial reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

While at the moment Powerpax chillers do not use HC refrigerants, the management of Powerpax, in conjunction with the University of New South Wales, are planning to hold some trials using HC refrigerant to further increase the energy efficiency of centrifugal chillers. The Powerpax laboratory at Bayswater North is ideal for this purpose. The company HyChill, which I have referred to, has contributed funds to the research project. I believe the project has also attracted federal funding.

At present, the major established chiller companies are drastically cutting the prices of their systems in an urgent damage control move to limit the loss of their traditional markets for their chillers. Powerpax products are not cheaper, being up to 25 per cent more expensive than the older systems, but the energy savings and the expected long life of the chiller compressors are very attractive to major clients. Price cutting by competitors is obviously intended to reduce that perceived advantage substantially. This makes it obvious that Powerpax is an important new player in the industry.

I now come to another issue that I would like to talk about. Late last year, this House debated two ozone protection bills. Those bills were principally designed to control the handling of harmful substances, namely hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, and ensure appropriate safety measures were in place. That debate afforded many of us the opportunity to explain the need to take the bill even further. As many honourable members would be aware, CFCs have been phased out because of their devastating ozone depleting effect, with their replacement HFCs noted as the preferred refrigerant. In that debate I pushed for the need for us to recognise that hydrocarbons, or HCs, are the only natural refrigerant that we export.

This brings me to raise the undue pressure, once again, that has been placed on HyChill and also on me for raising this issue in parliament. I note that it is only through my support and my raising it that organisations like Powerpax and HyChill are able to gain any form of recognition and support, yet the support does not seem to be forthcoming from the green movement. As I noted in the debate:

between HFCs and HCs—

One of the largest companies that has a vested interest in the HFC industry is global giant DuPont. Their interest is principally driven by financial concerns. It is worth noting the influence and dominance that DuPont has over the HFC industry in the US and around the world.

Following my contribution to the debate last year, I received a copy of a letter from Mr John McCormack, Business Manager, Fluroproducts, DuPont Australia, to the Minister for the Environment and Heritage, the Hon. Dr David Kemp. In that letter Mr McCormack claimed that my contribution was `misleading for public safety'. Mr McCormack accused me of not doing my homework. In preparation for this grievance debate I asked the Energy Resources Group to provide me with an official response to the claims. I intend to read some of the assertions and the expert's response to them. The response, provided by the chairman of Energy Resources Group, Mr Peter Belousoff, clearly sets the record straight about HCFCs and HFCs versus hydrocarbons. It also exposes that Mr McCormack's own company, through its own publications, has contradicted his assertions. I wonder if the DuPont management are even aware of the letter that Mr McCormack has written to the minister, making these accusations about my contribution.

The Greenpeace web site states:

The following is a quote from DuPont's own material safety data sheet for HFC R134a:

Other warnings like that appear for HFC R152a. I would therefore encourage Mr McCormack to look in his own backyard before casting aspersions on his competitors and on those industries that are doing their bit to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, particularly from this country.

Mr Belousoff goes on to counter the claim by DuPont's Mr McCormack that HFCs and HCFCs have no impact—or any impact on the ozone layer—yet they have positive characteristics like the CFCs they replace. There is much in the letter from Mr Belousoff in response to the DuPont letter, and I intend to write back to the minister with a response, which I am sure will then be provided to the DuPont organisation.

I wish to state that I reject wholeheartedly the claims of Mr McCormack and instead emphasise my belief that the protection of one's market share should not sway views on this matter. I have worked and will continue to work with local groups and organisations for the betterment of our local environmental assets. They include our lakes, sanctuaries, reservations, planning schemes and preservation of open space. As for the local Greens, I encourage them to join with me to work with those who are working to make a difference to our community. No amount of heavy-handedness, whether it be from governments or big business, should dissuade us from supporting these people. (Time expired)