Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

The purpose of the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Amendment Bill 2008 is to make a number of minor amendments to the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act 2007, to improve the administration of the act and to make modifications to what information can be published by government under the act.

The National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act 2007 was introduced by the previous government and enacted on 28 September 2007.

It establishes a framework for mandatory reporting of greenhouse gas emissions and energy production and consumption by industry.

Corporations which exceed certain thresholds are required to apply to register under the system by 31 August 2009, and to provide data concerning their emissions and energy use, commencing with the 2008-09 financial year. The first corporation reports by industry are due by 31 October 2009.

Data collected by the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting System (or NGERS) will facilitate policy making on greenhouse and energy issues.

A goal of the system is to eliminate duplicative industry reporting requirements under the existing patchwork of state, territory and Commonwealth greenhouse gas and energy programs. It provides a repository for data which may potentially serve the needs of all Australian governments. The government is working with the states and territories through the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) to identify opportunities for streamlining national reporting requirements via this system.

In addition, the system aims to underpin the introduction of an emissions-trading scheme, and will assist the government to meet Australia’s international reporting requirements.

The amendments set forth in this bill are, for the most part, administrative amendments to improve the functions of the act. They do not impose new regulatory burdens on industry. The measures will not have a budgetary impact.

In some cases, the amendments are required to better reflect the original policy intent behind the act when it was introduced. In other cases, these administrative amendments will increase flexibility for business to comply with the act.

An example of the greater flexibility provided by these amendments is the area of registration of corporations under the act. The proposed amendments will ensure that a corporation may apply for registration well in advance of meeting one of the emissions or energy thresholds specified in the act, as opposed to waiting until the day a threshold is met. In addition, it will no longer be necessary for a corporation to provide evidence that it has met a threshold at the point of registration. This will significantly reduce the red-tape burden imposed on industry at the start of their involvement with the scheme.

Another administrative amendment set out in this bill is to clarify the distinction between reporting of projects leading to reductions and removals of greenhouse gases, and reporting of offsets. Currently, the act allows a corporation to report on offsets arising from a project undertaken by itself or a member of its group. This would prevent a corporation from reporting offsets which could be generated by activities carried out beyond the corporate boundaries of the group. A new provision inserted by this bill will allow separate reporting of offsets and other types of projects.

The bill clarifies that a member of a corporation’s group must provide assistance to an external auditor during audits of the corporation’s group. This will assist in ensuring that the external audit regime imposed by the act is robust.

The one area where the amendments proposed by this bill go beyond existing policy is in the area of public disclosure. Even here, the amendments do not impose a new reporting burden on corporations. Instead, the effect of the amendments will be to increase the amount of information collected by the system which may be publicly disclosed.

The bill will ensure the public and investors have access to information on both a corporation’s scope 1 (direct) and scope 2 (indirect) greenhouse gas emissions. This distinction has been added following public consultation. Corporations will benefit from a greater public understanding of how their emissions profile is composed, rather than from the publication of a single total. In some sectors, scope 2 (indirect emissions) can compose a significant share of a corporation’s total greenhouse gas emissions footprint.

The bill also allows corporations to disclose to the public the methods used to measure their emissions, and for the accuracy rating of methods to be disclosed publicly. This will lead to far greater transparency concerning the accuracy and reliability of data published.

This bill will make the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting System simpler to administer, and provide clarity for industry on administrative procedures.

Debate (on motion by Mrs Bronwyn Bishop) adjourned.