Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer the Prime Minister to the comments of Matthew Warren, the Chief Executive Officer of the Clean Energy Council, who stated:

Any further delay in legislating the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme should result in the immediate decoupling of the renewable energy target to unlock immediate and pent-up investment in renewable energy.

Will the government now stop delaying renewable energy, give certainty to the solar sector and decouple the renewable energy target legislation from its flawed emissions trading scheme?

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The government’s concern has not been to provide additional compliance burdens for business. Hence the regimes to support, by way of adjustment, affected industries under both the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme and the renewable energy target are complementary, and that is why we have embarked upon this process in the way in which we have. If those opposite intend to vote against the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme in the Senate—I would ask them not to, but if they propose so to do—could I suggest to those opposite that they therefore have an obligation to advance what alternative scheme they have by way of compensation regimes under the renewable energy target. We do not have those before us at the moment. Those which are contained in our legislation are in fact complementary to that of the CPRS, and we have done so with a view to ensuring that the regimes minimise the compliance burden for business.