ABSA Member Update 10th March

An exert taken from ABSA's member update, dated 10 March.

ABSA Welcomes New Era Of Engagement With The Government.

Today ABSA's CEO and Chairman met with Senator Wong, in her capacity as the Minister responsible for the Green Loans Program following changes to Ministerial responsibility announced recently by the Prime Minister.

"We appreciate the time taken by Senator Wong to meet with us on an extremely busy day in the Senate and the recognition in her Ministerial statement, delivered immediately before her meeting with ABSA, of the planned departmental actions to address some of the shortcomings of the scheme," Mr Wayne Floyd, ABSA Chairman said.

Present at the meeting were Senator Wong, her adviser and several senior public servants from the new Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency. ABSA welcomed the opportunity to speak openly and directly to the Minister.

Given the short time frames we were immediately offered a second meeting, scheduled for next Tuesday.

"In this next meeting we are looking forward to a new era of cooperation between ABSA and the Federal Government and continuing discussions with the Minister," Mr Floyd said.

We agreed that there are no quick solutions. ABSA is looking for long term outcomes which help to both establish a solid industry for our members and improve residential sustainability. ABSA has submitted to Senator Wong immediate and longer term proposals which would be of benefit to our members, the Government, industry and the environment.

It has been a frustrating few weeks for ABSA and our members, as unanticipated changes to the Green Loans Scheme and then Ministerial changes have delayed our ability to get meaningful answers about the future of the scheme.

ABSA appreciates that any major changes to the program may take some time to plan and implement but we were encouraged by the tone of today's brief discussion.

Alison Carmichael, CEO.

Wayne Floyd, Chair.