Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change and Water) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you to Senator Birmingham for the question. I assume from the question he does not fall into the Senator Minchin camp of those who think climate change is exaggerated, or perhaps he is in that camp—I am not sure. As I indicated yesterday to the chamber, we tabled two reports. The first was the report which related to our obligations under the Kyoto protocol, and I do make the point again that the government has put that report in place a year early. So not only was the first act of the government the ratification of the Kyoto protocol but the report was provided a year early.

As I indicated on Lateline and in other interviews yesterday, Senator Birmingham, the advice I have received was that the previous government’s measures would have had us missing our Kyoto target by one per cent. This government is tracking to the Kyoto target of 108 per cent and is on track.

We always understood that Kyoto was the first step, but of course that was the first step those opposite were never prepared to take, and they are still all at sea on. That is the step they were never prepared to take and they are still divided on it. We have Dr Nelson grasping at the ratification in the vain hope of increasing—