Nick Minchin (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance and Administration) Share this | Hansard source

I think Senator Allison is referring to a letter that I wrote to Mr Ian Kiernan, the very successful head of the Clean Up Australia campaign, in which I congratulated him on his campaign. But I have noted that Mr Kiernan had an interview with Mr Charles Woolley in which my name was raised and in which they both referred to ‘scientific loonies’ in the context of anyone who did not totally and unconditionally accept that climate change, to the extent that climate is changing on the warm side, is all the result of human activity. All I did was write to Mr Kiernan.

Putting my own views to one side, I would point out that there does remain a scientific debate about this matter. Those in the scientific world who remain to be convinced that anthropogenic CO emissions are the complete cause of global warming are significant in number and significant in prestige in the scientific community, so it is a bit rich to call them scientific loonies. That is the background, I think, to Senator Allison’s question to me.

Of course there is still some debate in the scientific community on the extent to which anthropogenic CO emissions are contributing to global warming; that is just a fact. It is certainly also true that the IPCC, the UN body, does seem to have achieved consensus in relation to its view that human induced CO emissions are the primary cause of the extent of the global warming that we have seen in the late 20th century. We as a government have been conscious of that view and acting upon that view for some considerable time. Indeed, our position on this goes back 10 years. It was 1997, only a year after our election, when we actively engaged on this issue. We set up the world’s first national greenhouse office. We instituted a range of programs, with significant expenditures behind them, to seek to increase the amount of abatement of greenhouse gases, to encourage industry to reduce its emissions, to encourage Australians to reduce their emissions and to provide incentives to low-emission technologies. So we have a very proud record on that matter.

What we have always said, however, is that, while we will take prudent action to ensure that Australia makes a contribution to reducing the levels of anthropogenic CO emissions, we are not going to threaten the very foundations of the Australian economy or the foundations of Australian jobs. It is not the Liberal Party that is running around threatening the jobs of workers in the coal industry; it is those on the Labor side and the Greens’ side. It is Mr Garrett who is threatening the jobs in the coal industry. Mr Garrett thinks the coal industry’s time has gone and we should shut it down. We do not agree with that. We were pleased to see Mr Rudd join us in advocating investment in clean coal technology, which we see as important in ensuring that Australia retains its comparative advantage in relatively cheap power while at the same time ensuring that, as we generate that power, we reduce the level of CO emissions generated as a result.

It is important for national governments to be aware of the view in relation to the contribution of anthropogenic CO to global warming, and to be conscious that a scientific debate still remains about that matter; to take measures prudently and within our capacity to afford them; and to encourage the research, development and production of low-emission technologies. At the same time, we have to ensure that we do not threaten the livelihoods of Australian workers, and that will continue to be the foundation of our policy.