Belinda Neal (Robertson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise in support of the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Amendment Bill 2008. The bill provides amendments to the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act 2007. This Australian government is committed to reducing greenhouse emissions, which is quite contrary to the intentions of the previous government. This bill is a further step in the Rudd government’s commitment to addressing climate change.

In the electorate of Robertson, which I have the pleasure to represent, climate change is a real and important issue. Located between the Brisbane Water and the South Pacific Ocean, Robertson’s rapidly growing population lives close to the problems of climate change. The coastal environment of the Central Coast is fragile and under increasing population pressure. Residents there will be among the first to be affected by climate change. Coastal erosion and rising sea levels are just two of the consequences that will bring the reality of climate change home to the residents of my electorate. In Robertson, climate change is not just some esoteric, academic argument, as we sometimes have about these sorts of issues. It is very real and it has the potential to have an impact on the lives of my constituents. So it is vital that the Rudd Labor government continue to take bold action on climate change.

The other day I had the pleasure of addressing Broken Bay’s community organisation. Broken Bay is a little enclave community along the border of the Brisbane Water. It only entails about 600 houses but, on a rough calculation, I think we worked out that with a one-metre rise in the water approximately two-thirds of those houses would be underwater. So you can see that this issue very much has their attention.

In meeting the challenges of climate change, it is important to look at measures such as we have today. Robust, accurate and reliable data is essential to achieving this goal in the most efficient and effective way. The National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting System, NGERS, will collect data across the Australian economy which will form the basis of the emissions trading scheme and provide better information to the public. The first reporting period under the system commenced on 1 July 2008. NGERS establishes the framework for mandatory reporting of greenhouse gas emissions, energy production and consumption by industry. Corporations which exceed certain thresholds are required to apply to register under the system by 31 August 2009 and to provide data concerning these emissions and energy use commencing in the 2008-09 financial year. The first corporation reports by industry are due by 31 October 2009. The original act established a national mandatory corporate reporting system and dissemination of information relating to greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption and production.

I noted the comments of the previous speaker, who said that what we should be doing is delaying. My view is quite the contrary; we have delayed enough. It is time, after careful thought and consideration, to proceed to take action and not wait another two years or another two years after that, or whatever delaying tactic is put forward by this opposition.

The reporting obligations under the act are intended to lay the foundations for the proposed national emissions trading scheme due to be introduced in 2010. One of the objects of the act was to introduce a single national framework to underpin the introduction of the emissions trading scheme in the future. Both the Garnaut climate change review and the carbon pollution reduction scheme green paper state that, although the National Greenhouse Energy Reporting Scheme will be the basis for the carbon emissions scheme, it will need to be strengthened to support the special financial importance attached to the emissions reported under the scheme.

The bill before the House brings that strength to the original act and makes significant and essential enhancements to it. The act requires mandatory reporting of greenhouse gas emissions and energy data by large corporations. The bill expands the amount of corporate information which will be published by the government. In other respects, the bill is consistent with existing policy. In some cases, the amendments are to ensure the act better reflects the original policy intent. The bill imposes no regulatory burden on industry beyond that originally intended by the act, and the measures will not have a budgetary impact on the government.

There are a range of specific enhancements to the act that are contained in the bill. They will make mandatory the separate disclosure of direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions. The bill will allow the minister to specify conditions, rating systems and the particular rating for the use of alternative methods to measure greenhouse gas emissions. The bill will allow publication of information relating to those methods of measurement where the use of those methods satisfies the conditions. The bill will extend the obligation to comply with an external audit to members of a registered corporations group. The bill will also amend provisions relating to reporting requirements.

The NGERS will eliminate industry reporting requirements that are currently duplicated under a patchwork of existing state, territory and Commonwealth greenhouse gas and energy programs. It will allow more flexible and streamlined methods by which corporations must publicly disclose their greenhouse gas emissions and energy use and the methods used by the corporation to calculate those emissions and uses.

The bill will also provide some clarifications about what can be publicly disclosed, including: allowing the publication of data according to a corporation’s business units; confirming that totals may, in certain cases, be published as falling between a specified range of values to avoid revealing trade secrets or commercially sensitive information; and allowing publication of information relating to emissions offsets undertaken either by the corporation or by other entities on its behalf.

This last provision will allow offsets to be reported separately from greenhouse gas projects. Just to be clear about this point: currently the act only allows offsets to be reported if they arise from a project carried out by the corporation reporting. This would exclude the possibility of reporting offsets created by the activities of a different corporation—for example, where an airline is offsetting its emissions via the planting of trees or other activities undertaken by a third party. Corporations can apply to have information withheld from publication if it reveals trade secrets or commercially sensitive information. This measure will be expanded to cover the new matters which are subject to publication.

The bill will allow the minister to specify conditions for methods of measuring greenhouse gas emissions and energy and to specify a rating system for such methods. Any reports made in future will need to meet any such conditions. The bill will make a number of amendments to the provisions dealing with the registration of corporations. The effect of these amendments will be to allow the making of simpler regulations for applications for registration.

The bill makes a number of other clarifications. These are quite minor and include: ensuring that members of a controlling corporation’s group comply with an external audit, confirming that ‘penalty unit’ has the same meaning as that imposed by the Crimes Act and ensuring that a contractor to a member of a controlling corporation’s group report their emissions directly to the government.

The bill also allows the Greenhouse and Energy Data Officer, a statutory official under the act, to delegate their powers under regulations. The enhanced reporting system in this bill will streamline the existing greenhouse emissions and energy reporting requirements on businesses across Australia. As well as making these requirements more transparent and easier to follow for the businesses concerned, the amendments within the bill will provide greater public access to the methods by which business calculates emissions and energy use. They will also allow greater public access to information about important changes in Australia’s response to climate change.

Most significantly, the amendments will replace a patchwork of existing greenhouse emissions and energy use requirements currently in force across Australia. This will ensure that consistent, reliable and readily comparable data on emissions is available to the users, the regulators and the public at large. In this way, the Rudd Labor government is further ensuring that Australia can move forward in its commitment to reducing greenhouse emissions. Corporations will benefit from a greater public understanding of how their emissions profile is composed rather than from the publication of a single total.

The bill also allows corporations to disclose to the public the methods used to measure their emissions and for the accuracy rating of methods to be disclosed publicly. This will lead to far greater transparency concerning the accuracy and reliability of data published. The bill makes the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting System simpler to administer and also more effective. It will provide clarity for industry and greater public access to information. I am very thrilled to be part of this government which is taking action on climate change and on reducing greenhouse emissions.

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