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

I thank Senator Brown for her question. At the last election the Australian people made it clear they wanted a government that was prepared to take responsibility on climate change. People will recall that prior to the election the Rudd Labor Party said we would set Australia on an emissions reduction path so that we would reduce emissions by 60 per cent of 2000 levels by 2050. We had a clear election commitment to place emissions trading at the heart of our efforts to reduce emissions. As those in this place who follow these issues would know, emissions trading places a limit on the carbon that we will allow to be produced across the Australian economy and seeks to reduce Australia’s carbon emissions at the lowest cost to the economy.

I have already announced, in February this year, the government’s principles that we would apply to an emissions trading scheme. They include that, consistent with our election commitments, this scheme will be a cap and trade scheme and we will also have measures to address the impact on particular sectors of the economy. Today I am pleased to announce that the government has set out a detailed timetable for the design and implementation of emissions trading. We have done so to give business the confidence and certainty it needs to get on with the job of moving towards a low carbon economy. We have done so because the Rudd Labor government will take a careful and methodical approach to emissions trading in full recognition that emissions trading represents one of the most far-reaching reforms in Australia’s history.

Consultation will be a key part of this approach. At every step of the way we want to be talking to the Australian community and business. Between now and June of this year the government will engage in preliminary consultations on technical issues with industry and non-government groups. These consultations will drive a green paper, which will be released in July. The green paper will canvass options and preferred approaches on a range of critical issues, such as which sectors will be covered and how emissions caps will be set. It will also include ways to address the impacts of emissions trading on Australian households, the trade exposed emissions-intensive sector and other strongly affected sectors. The feedback from this green paper will inform the exposure draft legislation which will be released in December this year. The government’s intention is that the bill on emissions trading will be considered by this parliament from March next year, with the government aiming to secure passage of the legislation by the middle of next year. This will then enable consultation on issues such as emissions trading regulations to occur next year. In the third quarter of next year the act will come into force and the regulator will be established. Subsequent to that, in 2010, the emissions trading scheme will commence.

As I said at the outset, the Rudd government are extremely conscious of the broad community and industry interest in emissions trading, which is why we are so strongly committed to consulting widely. I take this opportunity to note that the views which have already been expressed in previous consultations will clearly be taken into account by the government. We understand that climate change is an urgent challenge, which is why we are working to what is a tight timetable. But we are determined to consult, and consult widely, so we get this right. The fact is that, after long years of neglect, this government is delivering on the commitment to prepare Australia for the challenges of the future by taking responsibility for climate change. (Time expired)