Ian Macfarlane (Groom, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Energy and Resources) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Resources and Energy and Minister for Tourism. Given that this week Australia is hosting in Canberra the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum, set up in 2003, why has the Prime Minister spent yet another $100 million duplicating this body just to give him something to talk about when he is in New York?

Martin Ferguson (Batman, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Resources and Energy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Australian community would be concerned at the manner in which the opposition is seeking to undermine the confidence of the Australian community and our genuine endeavour to actually develop a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme which guarantees that we can do the right thing at home whilst doing the right thing internationally. In that context, I remind the House that on Monday this week the Prime Minister clearly indicated that our endeavours domestically and internationally to make real, practical progress with respect to the development of low-emissions coal technology are exceptionally important.

The legislation currently before the Senate going to the issue of offshore carbon sequestration is part of the jigsaw that will enable us to make real progress in accordance with the expectations of the Australian community. The reason they expect us to make progress on this front is that they understand that, unlike what would have occurred with those on the other side of the House, we do not want the lights going out because we are a nation dependent on electricity, 80 per cent of which comes from coal fired power stations. That effectively means that we have to work with business, non-government organisations and like-minded countries and pool our resources in the best possible capacity domestically and internationally to get this low-emissions coal technology correct. It also means that we have to pull together a genuine international commitment with all nations working together to put those resources on the table, because time is running out.

I remind the House that it was the G8 meeting held in Japan only a couple of months ago that actually said that we have to have 20 projects in place by 2010, with a view to demonstrating their commerciality by 2020. That is why the Prime Minister, on behalf of Australia, a nation that is dependent on coal for electricity to a large extent, and a nation that does well with respect to the export of coal, worth an estimated $43 billion this year, understands that we have to adopt a leadership position—unlike the failure on the other side with respect to leadership both in opposition and in government.

The Australian government is about putting in place a capacity to do the right thing, to guarantee that we have a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme that is relevant to the challenges of the 21st century both at home and abroad. I would have expected more of the former Minister for Industry, Tourism and Resources, because he understands the significance of this. But I simply say it sadly reflects not on him but on the lack of leadership of the member for Wentworth, who ought to know better as a former minister for the environment.