Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

(1) That a Joint Select Committee on Australia's Clean Energy Future Legislation be appointed to inquire into and report on the provisions of the following bills:

(a) Clean Energy Bill 2011;

(b) Clean Energy (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2011;

(c) Clean Energy (Income Tax Rates Amendments) Bill 2011;

(d) Clean Energy (Household Assistance Amendments) Bill 2011;

(e) Clean Energy (Tax Laws Amendments) Bill 2011;

(f) Clean Energy (Fuel Tax Legislation Amendment) Bill 2011;

(g) Clean Energy (Customs Tariff Amendment) Bill 2011;

(h) Clean Energy (Excise Tariff Legislation Amendment) Bill 2011;

(i) Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas (Import Levy) Amendment Bill 2011;

(j) Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas (Manufacture Levy) Amendment Bill 2011;

(k) Clean Energy (Unit Shortfall Charge—General) Bill 2011;

(l) Clean Energy (Unit Issue Charge—Auctions Bill 2011;

(m) Clean Energy (Unit Issue Charge—Fixed Charge) Bill 2011;

(n) Clean Energy (International Unit Surrender Charge) Bill 2011;

(o) Clean Energy (Charges—Customs) Bill 2011;

(p) Clean Energy (Charges—Excise) Bill 2011;

(q) Clean Energy Regulator Bill 2011;

(r) Climate Change Authority Bill 2011; and

(s) Steel Transformation Plan Bill 2011.

(2) That the committee consist of 12 members, three members of the House of Representatives to be nominated by the Government Whip or Whips, two members of the House of Representatives to be nominated by the Opposition Whip or Whips, one Greens member, one non-aligned member, two senators to be nominated by the Leader of the Government in the Senate, two senators to be nominated by the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, and one Greens senator.

(3) That every nomination of a member of the committee be notified in writing to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

(4) That the persons appointed for the time being to serve on the committee shall constitute the committee notwithstanding any failure by the Senate or the House of Representatives to appoint the full number of senators or members referred to in this resolution.

(5) That the committee elect a Government member as its chair.

(6) That the committee elect a member as its deputy chair who shall act as chair of the committee at any time when the chair is not present at a meeting of the committee, and at any time when the chair and deputy chair are not present at a meeting of the committee the members shall elect another member to act as chair at that meeting.

(7) That, in the event of an equally divided vote, the chair, or the deputy chair when acting as chair, have a casting vote.

(8) That four members of the committee constitute a quorum of the committee provided that in a deliberative meeting the quorum shall include at least one Government member of either House and one non-Government member of either house.

(9) That the committee have power to call for witnesses to attend and for documents to be produced.

(10) That the committee may conduct proceedings at any place it sees fit.

(11) That the committee have the power to adjourn from time to time and to sit during any adjournment of the Senate and the House of Representatives.

(12) That the committee report on or before 4 October 2011.

(13) That the provisions of this resolution, so far as they are inconsistent with the standing orders, have effect notwithstanding anything contained in the standing orders.

(14) That a message be sent to the Senate acquainting it of this resolution and requesting that it concur with the action accordingly.

Today I am moving a motion to refer the bills that were moved earlier today to a joint parliamentary committee to enable closer scrutiny of the bills. Given the Multi-Party Climate Change Committee process and the extensive debate already conducted, the government considers this to be the appropriate mechanism. Carbon pricing and climate change policy have been widely debated in Australia for more than a decade, including through some 35 parliamentary committee inquiries. This will make No. 36.

The first review of emissions trading by an Australian government was in 1998, some 13 years ago. There was extensive policy work undertaken by the former, Howard government, most notably by Peter Shergold, which concluded that pricing carbon through a market based mechanism was the best approach. In addition, of course, Professor Ross Garnaut has conducted two major reviews on Australia's best policy options for tackling climate change. The government's Clean Energy Future package was developed through a parliamentary committee process, the Multi-Party Climate Change Committee, which met for nine months before completing its work in July this year. The federal coalition, the Greens and Independents were invited to participate in the MPCCC. Only the coalition declined.

Since the establishment of the MPCCC in September 2010, the government has engaged widely, including through the business and NGO roundtables. In February, the government released the framework for its carbon pricing policy and sought feedback. Draft legislation was released for consultation in late July and over 1,300 submissions were received. This contrasts with the coalition's introduction of Work Choices, where there were only eight days to make a submission to a Senate committee inquiry that reported back one week later. It was the most significant reform to workplace relations in Australian history—legislation that stripped away the rights of working Australians—but there was no opportunity to view the legislation before it was introduced into the parliament in 2005.

By contrast, we have had countless consultations, inquiries and reports. The time has come to deliver a low-carbon economy of the future and give business and investors the certainty they have been asking for. The Liberals certainly do not need another long inquiry to decide how they are going to vote. The whole country knows how Tony Abbott is going to vote: he is going to vote no. He continually says that that is the case. He has said that he stakes his political future on opposition to this legislation. So spending months more on this is not going to tell us anything that we do not already know; it will just cost business the certainty that they need and that they are asking for. The Australian community want action on climate change. They want us to get on with it.

The government has been open, transparent and consultative about this process. We have shared with the Australian community all the available research that has informed our thinking. There was, of course, a time when the Leader of the Opposition believed in action on climate change. There was a time, towards the end of the Howard government and then in opposition, when all those opposite supported an emissions trading scheme. This is an opportunity for the opposition to demonstrate that they can put the national interest ahead of self-interest, but I do not think that will be the case.

Instead we will have, once again, the Leader of the Opposition—the walking vuvuzela—walking around just saying, 'no, no, no,' to any initiative of the government because there is just one sound that he makes. In his press conference today the Leader of the Opposition claimed that this legislation is being rushed through in spite of the fact that there will be a whole month of debate in this parliament about this legislation.

The government has also indicated to the opposition and the crossbenchers that we are more than prepared to sit extra hours in the coming fortnight in order to make sure that everyone can participate in this debate. I will leave it to those opposite, who say on the one hand that they want extra debate on this but who, on the other hand, say that they are opposed to sitting extra hours to facilitate that debate, to explain that process. Perhaps they will change their minds.

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