Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

Those opposite interject that they did it. Where is the emissions trading scheme that they claim to have done? In 2003, the previous government released a review of the operation of the Renewable Energy (Electricity) Act 2000. Nothing was done. In 2007, former Prime Minister Howard’s group on emissions trading released the Shergold report, which recommended an emissions trading scheme for the future and, as we went into the last election, what did those opposite promise to introduce if they were to win? They promised an emissions trading scheme. They then said, through the then Minister for the Environment and Water Resources but now Leader of the Opposition:

… to encourage the development of low-emission technologies and a more efficient use of energy. The best approach is through emissions trading; letting the market set the price so that the least cost abatement can be achieved.

He went on to say:

… if you throw out a target and you cannot tell business what it's going to cost, what it's going to mean, they'll throw up their arms in dismay. So we have set up a scheme, an emissions trading scheme.

That is the scheme against which they voted in the Senate earlier today.

The other argument advanced by those opposite is that we need to wait for Copenhagen and see what the rest of the world has done. Could I remind those opposite what they had to say on these matters when they were in government? Again, these are the words of the now Leader of the Opposition. He said only last year:

… the Howard government’s policy last year—

referring to 2007—

was that we would establish an emissions trading system not later than 2012. It was not conditional on international action …

That was the statement made by the now Leader of the Opposition only last year. He said further:

… John Howard decided and the Cabinet decided last year that we would move on an emissions trading scheme come what may.

Again, this is the emissions trading scheme which they have voted against in the Senate today. In terms of whether this action should be conditional upon international action, the Howard government’s own report, the Shergold report, said the following. I quote what their own report said, and they know it too well. The Shergold report said:

… waiting until a truly global consensus response emerges before imposing an emissions cap will place costs on Australia by increasing business uncertainty and delaying or losing investment. Already there is evidence that investment in key emissions intensive industries and energy infrastructure is being deferred.

So, after 12 years, the Liberal Party undertook a promise finally at the last election, armed with the Shergold report, that they would act. What we have seen ever since the election is one rolling litany of excuses for inaction, for one reason alone: they cannot unite themselves to bless themselves, let alone to vote together on any position on climate change.

I contrast that shoddy performance on climate change with the posture that we adopted since the last election and the commitments we took to the Australian people. We said to the Australian people prior to the last election that we as our first act in government would ratify the Kyoto protocol. We, the government of Australia, as our first act ratified the Kyoto protocol. It took them years and years and years to procrastinate and to avoid such a basic course of action, and we took it as our first action in government. We also set a target to cut Australia’s greenhouse emissions by 60 per cent on 2000 levels by 2050; to ensure that 20 per cent of Australia’s electricity supply, the equivalent of all household electricity used, would be generated by renewable energy by 2020; that we would establish a national clean coal initiative; that we would establish an Australian solar institute, a geothermal initiative and introduce greenhouse rebates for solar power and solar hot water; and to provide low-interest loans for families to undertake water and energy efficiency improvements at home. We also undertook to introduce a national emissions trading scheme.

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