Mark Butler (Port Adelaide, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Water) Share this | Hansard source

I might ask a couple of questions about a matter that the minister talked about particularly: the 2020 targets—or the 2020 target, potentially—and some of the other targets. As the minister will recall, there was an unconditional target lodged, on behalf of Australia, to reduce carbon pollution by five per cent below 2000 levels by 2020 and then two conditional targets. All three were endorsed by the coalition when in opposition. I want to ask first of all whether those conditional targets remain government policy. I do not think anyone thinks that the second conditional target is anywhere near being satisfied yet. But I would like to ask the minister whether the government has a position on whether or not the second target—so, the conditional target of 15 per cent, which was the subject of a Climate Change Authority report last year, which I do not think the government ever formally responded to—remains government policy. So, first of all, do those two conditional targets remain government policy? Secondly, if they do, has the government reached a view about whether the conditions for the 15 per cent reduction—the first conditional target—have been satisfied?

I am also particularly interested to follow up the member for Herbert's discussion about the reef. I am also interested to know whether the minister is monitoring the increase in land clearing in the Far North Queensland area, and, particularly, monitoring and modelling the impact that that increase in land clearing in Queensland is going to have on Australia's carbon footprint. As I am sure the minister appreciates, the only real reason why Australia was able to achieve its first Kyoto commitment was the extraordinary reduction in carbon emissions from that part of the country through the land clearing reforms put in place by the Queensland state government—the subject of significant arm wrestling over a long period of time, but a very substantial reduction in carbon emissions from that sector, which appear to be in the process of being reversed as a result of the changes to land clearing put in place by the Newman government. Given the minister's overall responsibility for the national carbon footprint, I would appreciate some information as to whether or not his department is monitoring the impact that that will have on Australia's overall carbon emissions.

I also want to follow up some questioning that happened at the Senate estimates process recently about the Emissions Reduction Fund first auction, which the minister again described as a 'stunning success'—which I will leave aside for the sake of brevity. As the minister knows, there was $660 million committed to 107 contracts. The Clean Energy Regulator indicated to the Senate committee that 104 of those 107 contracts were either seven- or 10-year contracts, so they run past 2020 obviously. Apparently the CER had done some modelling, from my recollection of the transcript—or the department had, at least—about how much of the abatement would be expected to be achieved before 2020 and how much would be achieved in the 2020s, given that 104 of the 107 contracts would still be running through the 2020s. Perhaps the minister can give some indication later—if at all—given that we have just been called to a division—

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 18:01 to 18:14

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