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

asked the Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, in writing, on 8 February 2011:

(1) Can he confirm that at the Kyoto climate change conference on 11 December 1997, and with the full support of the Federal Cabinet and Coalition parties, the (then) Prime Minister and Minister for the Environment negotiated and formed ‘The Australian Clause’ of the Kyoto Protocol (Article 3.7), allowing Annex I parties to include greenhouse gas emissions from land use change in 1990-base year calculations.

(2) Can he confirm the accuracy of Mr Clive Hamilton’s statement in his speech The Political Economy of Climate Change (The Milthorpe Lecture, Macquarie University, Sydney, 8 June 2006): ‘The Government knew that land clearing had declined sharply since the accepted base year of 1990, so even before the ink was dry, Australia’s emissions had fallen by 5 to 10 percent…’.

(3) Is it a fact that after the Kyoto climate change conference the (then) Government paid the Queensland and NSW governments in excess of $100 million to introduce more restrictive native vegetation laws which limited property rights on approximately 100 million hectares of privately owned farming land; if so, is it a fact that to date no monetary compensation has been made to these land owners; if so, what responsibility does the Government take for the diminished income of affected landholders.

(4) Is it a fact that since the Kyoto climate change conference, Article 3.7 has resulted in a reduction of carbon dioxide emissions equivalent to 87.5 million tonnes between 1990 and 2003; if so, does Government data support that this has enabled Australia to make significant gains towards meeting its Kyoto Protocol target of limiting greenhouse gas emissions to 108 per cent of 1990 emissions.

(5) Can he confirm that the United Nations Association of Australia commented on Australia’s commitments under the Kyoto Protocol in 2007 by saying: ‘the real challenge of reducing GHG emissions is from electricity generation and transport which have yet to be addressed.’; if so, is it an accurate statement.

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