Robert Oakeshott (Lyne, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—I move amendments (1) to (19) as circulated in my name:

(1)    Clause 2, page 2 (line 2), omit ‘Australian’, substitute ‘Independent’

(2)    Clause 4, page 4 (line 7), omit ‘Australian’, substitute ‘Independent’

(3)    Clause 5, page 7 (line 9), omit ‘Australian’, substitute ‘Independent’

(4)    Part 2, page 32 (line 1) to page 37 (line 9), omit the Part, substitute:

Part 2—National scheme cap

13  National scheme cap

        (1)    For each financial year beginning on or after 1 July 2011, the Authority is to determine a national scheme cap, being a quantity of greenhouse gas that has a carbon dioxide equivalence of a specified number of tonnes.

        (2)    That number is the national scheme cap number for that eligible financial year.

        (3)    The Authority must declare the national scheme cap number for an eligible financial year before the start of that year.

        (4)    The Authority must issue projected national scheme cap numbers for an eligible financial year:

                  (a)    for the financial years beginning on 1 July 2011 to 1 July 2015, by 1 July 2010; and

                  (b)    in all other cases, at least five years before the start of that year.

        (5)    In setting the national scheme cap number, the Authority must base its decision on the wider public interest, taking into account the following:

                  (a)    short and long term economic considerations; and

                  (b)    short and long term environmental considerations; and

                  (c)    Australia’s international obligations; and

                  (d)    carbon emissions and the national scheme cap number in the period prior to the eligible financial year in question; and

                  (e)    any other matter that the Authority considers relevant.

        (6)    The Authority must give reasons for its decisions under this section.

        (7)    The Authority must publish quarterly assessments and reports of its activities under this section.

(5)    Clause 88, page 130 (lines 15 to 16), omit the paragraph.

(6)    Clause 88, page 130 (lines 17 to 18), omit the paragraph.

(7)    Clause 89, page 130 (line 24) to page 132 (line2), omit the subsection, insert:

        (1)    For each of the eligible financial years beginning on 1 July 2011 to 1 July 2015, the Authority is to set a fixed charge per unit.

     (1A)    The Authority is to calculate the fixed charge per unit on the basis that the projected demand for the units will be the same as the national scheme cap number set by the Authority in section 13.

      (1B)    The Authority is to publish the fixed charge per unit for an eligible financial year at the same time as it declares the national scheme cap number for that year.

      (1C)    During each of the eligible financial years beginning on 1 July 2011 to 1 July 2015, a person who has a Registry account may apply to the Authority for the issue to the person of a specified number of Australian emission units:

                  (a)    with a vintage year corresponding to that financial year; and

                  (b)    for the per unit charge under subsection (1).

(8)    Clause 89, page 133 (line 26) to page 134 (line 23), omit the subsections.

(9)    Clause 92, page 135, line 20, omit “starting on or after 1 July 2012”.

(10)  Clause 92, page 135 (lines 23 to 24), omit the subsection.

(11)  Clause 93, page 136 (lines 13 to 14), omit the subsection.

(12)  Clause 101, page 140 (lines 24 and 25), omit the subparagraph.

(13)  Clause 101, page 140 (lines 26 and 27), omit the subparagraph.

(14)  Clause 101, page 141 (lines 5 and 6), omit the paragraph.

(15)  Part 8, page 203 (line 1) to page 211 (line 27), omit the Part.

(16)  Part 9, page 212 (line 1) to page 239 (line 32), omit the Part.

(17)  Clause 260, page 311 (line 10), after ‘Act’, add ‘and other matters related to pollution caused by emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases’.

(18)  Part 12, after Division 7, page 334, after line 12, insert:

Division8—Publication of information quarterly

278H  Publication of information quarterly

                 As soon as possible after the end of each quarter, the Authority must publish on its website a statement, in the form specified in the regulations:

             (a)    consolidating  or providing links to information published during the quarter in accordance with the provisions of Divisions 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7;  and

             (b)    providing such additional information as the Authority considers useful or relevant in relation to pollution caused by emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

(19)  Clause 360, page 411 (after line 6), at the end of paragraph (2)(k), insert:

     (2A)    A person is not eligible for appointment as an expert advisory committee member unless the Minister has consulted the leader of each recognised political party in the Parliament on the individual’s proposed appointment and given each leader at least 30 days in which to respond.

When I first came into this place I said in my first speech that my role was to work in the best interests of the community, to work in the best interests of this nation and, where appropriate, to engage and work in the best interests of any international agreements. This is one such moment. What I did not say was that my role was to dumb down legislation, deliver policy that is a flat pancake and engage in the pragmatism of trying to get legislation through this place through deals with business, through deals with the Senate and at the expense of getting the best possible pure policy outcome that all of us in this place should deliver.

I do think this legislation has got down to that question of purity versus pragmatism. In conversations about the amendments last night, the government appreciated that the amendments do have an element of purity and that an ideal option is to remove a lot of the discretionary ministerial powers in the future; it is to allow the science to rise out of the political mosh pit that this legislation seems to have got stuck in over the last 12 months. If this is not about the science, then I ask everyone in this place: what is it about? Endorsing the words of the Leader of the Opposition two nights ago, this has to be about the science and the economy, not about the politics. That is why I think these amendments are important. They improve the legislation that I hope it is noted I just voted for. I voted for the legislation based not on its current form but, to pinch a line from a president, on the hopes and the dreams of what this legislation might become.

The amendment deals with some of those issues that are causing angst in the community, that are causing division in the parliament and the community—the manipulation of targets for political purposes and the manipulation of a whole range of market elements of a market based solution, such as the issuing of free permits and fixed pricing for 12 months. These are all political decisions that have been made in an effort to try in a pragmatic way to get this legislation through the parliament.

It is not my role to endorse a flat pancake. It is my role to try and prick the consciences of government and of every single member of this parliament to affirm that our role is to get the best policy outcome that we can deliver for the community. The best policy outcome for the long term is something that survives the political cycles. No matter who ends up in the chair of Prime Minister or a minister or in the executive, if we are serious we need to build something that has security of tenure.

I think there is enormous disappointment about the way the politics of division is being played with this issue. The language in the debates of the last 24 or 48 hours have all been about one side trying to kick the stuffing out of the other. One side is calling the other group ‘the job destroyers’, and then the other group is calling them ‘the climate change sceptics’. None of that is true—there are elements of truth, but none of it is generally true. I would hope that, if we are serious about our roles as members of parliament above and beyond roles within political parties, we would see this as a significant moment and as significant legislation and as a responsibility to deliver the best possible outcome for the community.

The amendment moved taps into the common sentiment that an emissions trading scheme is common sense. We have heard the Leader of the Opposition make that comment himself. There is unity on that issue. It does, hopefully, raise the question of whether a market based response to this environmental and economic question is the right way forward. The scheme itself has underlying principles that are market based. I would be incredibly surprised therefore if, when we drill down into the detail of any coalition or opposition ETS that they have flagged as something that is going to happen in the future, it would be any different to a market based response. Therefore the points of difference—the targets, the permits and the fixed pricing—need to be moved to an independent authority. (Time expired)

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