Greg Combet (Charlton, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting the Minister for Climate Change) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Lyne for his question. Of course, the member for Lyne was the only non-government member of parliament to vote for and support the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme—an act of courage that is important to acknowledge. I recall that when the CPRS legislation was in the House in June, the member for Lyne moved an amendment in very similar terms to those in his question to me. It raises the same important public policy question, and that is whether or not the proposed Australian Climate Change Regulatory Authority should be able to independently set the cap on emissions. As I recall, that was the nature of the amendment at the time, and I take it that the question has a similar intent.

As I explained to the House at that time, the scheme caps, in the government’s view—reflected, of course, in the way in which the legislation has been constructed—should be set in regulations rather than by an independent authority, and that remains our view of this issue. The setting of scheme caps, I think on any construction, is a very major policy decision requiring the balancing of broad environmental, economic and social factors. As a consequence it is in itself a very important public policy question. The government took the view, through the consultations in the development of the white paper in particular, that such an important decision should be taken by elected officials of this parliament and should be subject to parliamentary scrutiny. For that reason, the government remain committed to the approach that we have articulated.

I would emphasise, though—as I think I did at the time in June—that the government certainly welcomes the member for Lyne’s participation in the debate of these important issues and the recognition of the serious challenge that climate change presents. In particular, the government welcomes the member for Lyne’s commitment to supporting efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. That is exactly the type of engagement that those opposite, members of the Liberal and National parties, should also be engaging in: taking responsibility for the greatest challenge of our time—a responsibility that to date they have demonstrably shirked.

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