Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—The government would have been willing to support the motion of Senator Milne in relation to the Ministerial Conference on Environment and Development, had it not been limited to delegates from Treasury and the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts. The government has a strong interest in promoting green growth in the Asia-Pacific region. An amendment was proposed that would have broadened the terms of the motion to take a whole-of-government approach. It would have given the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts a coordinating role while allowing the flexibility to involve a range of officials from relevant agencies. Senator Milne was not willing to allow such flexibility and was unwilling to amend her motion in this way. Instead, she preferred a more prescriptive approach, which the government considered impractical; hence our vote against such a motion.