Ian Macfarlane (Groom, Liberal Party, Minister for Industry, Tourism and Resources) Share this | Hansard source

Actions like the $500 million Low Emissions Technology Demonstration Fund, which has seen projects already announced that will lower greenhouse gas emissions by millions of tonnes per annum; the $100 million renewable energy development initiative, which has already seen some 16 renewable energy projects awarded funding across the country; and of course the $75 million Solar Cities program, which is seeing groundbreaking solar energy technology trialled throughout Australia, including in Adelaide and Townsville. These programs are part of a $2 billion strategy laid out by this government. It is a strategy to lower greenhouse gas emissions which is unashamedly focused on practical technological measures which deliver real greenhouse gas reductions. This approach was emphasised heavily in today’s Stern report. According to the report:

Effective action on the scale required to tackle climate change requires a widespread shift to new or improved technology in key sectors ...

The report goes on:

... closer collaboration between government and industry will further stimulate the development of a broad portfolio of low carbon technologies and reduce costs.

The report goes on to say:

Policy should be aimed at bringing a portfolio of low-emission technology options to commercial viability

That is precisely what this government is doing, and those opposite are not prepared to accept the hard work of policy to put these initiatives in place. They chant ‘Kyoto’ and yet Stern says there is no single-bullet solution to this complex global issue. Concerted international action is needed, yet Labor continues to just say one thing: Kyoto.

Kyoto is not a global trading system and it is not successful in lowering the greenhouse gas emissions of most countries. It binds less than half of the world to emissions reduction, and most of those are going to miss their targets. Over the life of the treaty, global emissions will grow by some 40 per cent. It shows once again that taxes, treaties and targets do not deliver greenhouse gas savings; technology does—and technology is exactly what this government is delivering.

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