Warren Snowdon (Lingiari, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Northern Australia and Indigenous Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

He may do; he is like that. It is something that I know has exercised the minds of others, and I know it has exercised his mind as we have discussed it previously—that is, the question of doing something more about tax zone rebates to ensure that people who are disadvantaged because of cost differentials and their geographic location have those issues addressed properly by the parliament. At the moment they are not. From memory, I think the last time the tax zone rebates were changed was in 1992. There has been no change since and so the value of that tax zone rebate has diminished quite substantially.

I am not going to canvass all of the arguments made by others in this debate. What I want to do in the first instance, though, is to remind the chamber that this is a complex discussion. The member for Hunter was absolutely correct in saying that there is a need for a comprehensive energy paper that addresses all aspects of energy, including alternate sources of energy, and that there is a need for more efficient energy use.

I want to give two examples of activity in my own electorate which I think provide an insight into what can be done. If I get time, I will pick up on the issue of gas to liquids because I think that, in the context of bringing down our dependence on foreign oil, the gas-to-liquids proposals have significant benefit. The Northern Territory itself and the coast off the Northern Territory could make a significant contribution to the provision—

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