Phillip Barresi (Deakin, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is addressed to the Minister for Foreign Affairs. Would the minister update the House on international efforts to combat climate change through the global initiative on forests and climate, AP6 and our engagement with China?

Alexander Downer (Mayo, Liberal Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Firstly, I thank the honourable member for Deakin for his question and for his interest. I know that he, along with other members on this side of the House, understands only too well that Australia has credibility on this issue because we not only believe the issue of greenhouse emissions needs to be addressed—and addressed internationally—but also know that no country wants to address the issue in a way that will destroy its economy or undermine its economic prospects. When you are dealing with developing countries, that is a particularly important formula to understand. A lot of ideological ranting at developing countries is going to yield a response about patronising Westerners who do not care about poverty in the Third World—and understandably so.

We are leading positive international action to address the issue of climate change. The initiative that was launched today by the Prime Minister, the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources and I—the Global Initiative on Forests and Climate—is a very good illustration of a practical Australian approach to this problem. As the minister for the environment has said, we are putting $200 million into this project, which will have a very major impact on new forest planting, on limiting the destruction of existing forests, on promoting sustainable forest management—which in many developing countries is a very important priority—and, of course, on encouraging, as we must, contributions to this project from a range of other countries.

We have had discussions with Britain, the United States, New Zealand and Germany about the global initiative, and the responses we have had have all been very positive. Not surprisingly, developing countries which are likely to be beneficiaries—in particular, Indonesia—have responded very favourably as well. AusAID will be able to build technical capacity to assess and manage forest resources, particularly in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, and help those countries to put in place robust regulations and a law enforcement framework to protect forests and, in particular, to counter illegal logging.

As the honourable member suggested in his question, we have other initiatives as well. The historic initiative launched in Sydney in January of last year, the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate, has got off to a very strong start. I think the $60 million that we have so far committed as a first tranche—we have committed more than that but that was the first tranche of spending—to AP6 is going to achieve real and practical outcomes in concert with other countries which are part of the initiative.

Next week I will be in China. During my visit to China, one of the issues that I will be focusing on is climate change and CO emissions. As is well known, it is estimated that China’s CO emissions are to exceed those of the largest emitter, the United States, by 2009. So engaging China in the architecture of dealing with climate change is crucially important. We already have China as part of the AP6 initiative, and the Prime Minister and Chinese Premier, Wen Jiabao, recently announced the Australia-China Joint Coordination Group on Clean Coal Technology. I look forward to discussing with my Chinese counterparts the whole issue of reforestation and protecting existing forests, because that is obviously a significant issue for China.

This is the sort of diplomacy that can yield real and substantial outcomes and declines over time in CO emissions while allowing countries, including developing countries, to continue economic growth, to protect and create still more jobs and to build the prosperity of their people. That is the balance that all of us in the international community have to achieve. If I may say so, it is a lot better to approach this issue in that mature and constructive way than with the kind of ideological ranting that we hear from the other side of the House.

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is again to the Prime Minister. Given the Prime Minister is not ruling out a cap-and-trade emissions trading market for Australia, does it follow that the Prime Minister is therefore not ruling out a legally enforceable carbon target for Australia, as one follows from the other?

John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What I am saying is simply this: when we get the report of the expert group we will analyse it and provide a response. If the Leader of the Opposition wants me to rule things out, I am very happy to do so. I am going to rule out destroying jobs in the coal industry, I am going to rule out walking away from the workers of central Queensland, I am going to rule out walking away from the workers of the Hunter Valley of New South Wales, and I am going to rule out walking away from the workers of the Illawarra. Just as I ruled out walking away from the forestry workers of northern Tasmania in 2004, I can promise the coalminers of Australia that the coalition will remain their best friend.