ACT will phase out all wood-fired heaters by 2045 in move one businessman says will force him to close
ACT will phase out all wood-burning heating appliances by 2045, a move one businessman says will force it to close
- ACT Government to demolish wood fired heating appliances
- Entrepreneurs have rejected the decision
- One owner said he will be forced to close his business
A business owner has rejected the ACT government’s decision to phase out wood-burning heating appliances by 2045.
ACT Environment Minister Rebecca Vasarotti said wood-burning heaters will be phased out, in line with the recommendations of a report from the area’s Sustainability and Environment Commissioner released earlier this year.
The report found that the smoke produced by the heaters harms people’s health and results in “no safe level of air pollution.”
The government’s decision has been poorly received by a woodburning stove salesman who spoke to Daily Mail Australia.
A Canberra business owner who sells wood-burning stoves in Canberra has condemned the ACT government’s decision to phase out wood-burning heating, telling the Daily Mail that it has cost him his business.
Michael Bresnik, director of Fyshwick Home and Heating in south-east Canberra, said the government’s decision will force him to keep his mouth shut.
“We are closing,” Ms Bresnik told Daily Mail Australia.
‘For God’s sake I’m renting 850 square meters, of which 500 square meters is a showroom.
“With my sales plummeting, I can’t even afford to stay here.
“My company is null and void now.”
Mr Bresnik, who has run the company for 40 years, said the government’s decision will force his staff into unemployment.
“That means seven members of staff are scrapped and these guys (the ACT government) just don’t care,” he said.
“Our company is already half destroyed by the… intent to ban gas.
“Seeing that wood is in the firing line… our business is no longer sustainable.”
Ms Bresnik said the decision – taken without any consultation with companies like his – would wipe out several other businesses in the area.
ACT Environment Minister Rebecca Vasarotti said wood-burning heaters will be phased out after a report found they were not producing ‘safe levels of air pollution’
Ms Vasarotti accepted that some would be harmed by the new policy, but said the benefits outweigh the drawbacks.
‘I appreciate that many Canberrans have grown up with wood burning stoves and that they provide nostalgic charm and comfort,’ she said.
“We have to face the reality that the smoke they emit is a direct source of pollution in our homes…”
“(They are) a clear and present danger to the well-being of our community in urban and suburban areas, and a looming threat to our natural environment.”
The report by the ACT Commissioner for Sustainability and the Environment, Sophie Lewis, stated that wood-burning stoves would affect people’s health.
The report which was released in January 2023 concluded that people will be exposed to health consequences from the smoke emitted by the heaters.
A report from the ACT Commissioner for Sustainability and the Environment shows that wood-burning heating appliances will affect people’s health, with the findings suggesting that there is ‘no level of pollution beyond which health effects occur’
“Current research indicates that there is no level of pollution at which health effects do not occur,” the report said.
Mr Bresnik said he fears the government’s plan to phase out wood-burning heating, alongside a ban on gas, will leave Canberrans dependent on electricity at a time when the cost of that energy is soaring.
“If they rely on electricity to give people adequate heating in minus seven conditions… good luck,” he said.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted the minister for comment.