Steve Hutchins (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I found it regrettable, listening to Senator Boswell’s contribution this afternoon in relation to the very important National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Amendment Bill 2008, that he sought to take a different path from what I understand to be that of the coalition. Clearly Senator Boswell is one of those sceptics out there who do not believe that climate change is real. We heard Senator Boswell talk about the people—the ‘Jeremiahs’, as he might call them—detailing what might go wrong, what could go wrong and how, if we get tied up with New Zealand, we will be tied up with Europe. I was disappointed. As a former leader of a once great party—I would not say it is great anymore—the National Party, and a Queenslander who would be at the cutting edge of seeing climate changing, dare I say under his feet, he might have been a bit more positive in supporting what we are essentially being asked to do this afternoon—that is, to fix up legislation that was introduced by the previous government.

I urge the coalition to cooperate with us on this important, major shift in public policy, and I do so because I understand from my observations and discussions with members of the business community that they wish to cooperate with the Rudd Labor government. I was heartened when I had the opportunity to skim through some of the submissions that were put before the prime ministerial task group of the previous Prime Minister, Mr Howard, to advise on the nature and design of an emissions trading scheme. I will take the opportunity to highlight to the Senate a number of the great Australian companies that, in their submissions to that prime ministerial task group, have not in any way, shape or form supported the negative comments that we have heard this afternoon from Senator Boswell. Let me commence with our greatest Australian company, BHP Billiton. On page 3 of its submission it says:

It is clear that an effective, sustained global response to the threat of climate change is required.

I did not hear any solutions being offered by Senator Boswell this afternoon—no doubt there will be other senators of his ilk—but there is our great Australian company BHP Billiton, active in mining operations all over the world. BHP went on:

BHP Billiton supports the development of a global, market-based mechanism for valuing and trading emissions entitlements and reductions, on the basis that it is broadly-based … efficient, and phased in in such a way that industry and the economy have sufficient time to adjust.

Here is one of our great Australian companies. It understands that change is underway and it wants to be a partner in that change rather than sit on the outside, as now seems to be the case with the coalition. It went on:

Australia is vulnerable to climate change, as are many of the nations in its region. Acting alone, Australia can do little to mitigate the growth in global emissions.

As a member of the Senate Standing Committee on Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport, I take the opportunity to subscribe to a number of magazines that deal with that portfolio area. Each one that I have read in virtually the last 12 months has been acutely aware of the need to address climate change and to have a proposal before government that can involve them. I will name just a few of those magazines. The Land would probably be the bible of the National Party in New South Wales. If you read the Land you will see that almost every page is dedicated to some aspect of climate change, an emissions trading scheme, droughts and other areas of important public policy that are imminent—and they wish to cooperate and be partners in the outcomes.

The Daily Commercial News deals with the import-export business. Again, it is very active in the debate because of its association with shipping and road and rail transport. If you look at the bus industry magazine, called ABC, again almost every page of that fine publication is dedicated to how we are going to deal with this impending crisis. Owner/Driver, a magazine published for single and multi-operators in the road transport business, is equally involved. Australasian Transport News is another. Where is the solution from the coalition? Where is their willingness to partner this government in the outcomes that we need for the sustainable future of our nation? There is none.

I will go on. BHP is a global company started by an Australian. This is what they said in their submission to the Prime Ministerial Task Group on Emissions Trading: ‘There is a real possibility that an effective global market will develop through the convergence and linking up of a number of regional, national and subnational carbon markets—that is, a bottom-up approach to developing a global market.’ BHP went on: ‘This seems much more likely than following the top-down approach of designing a global market from scratch.’

What is happening here is that these major resource companies, understanding that they have to be partners in this debate, have become involved. We on this side are acutely aware of the threats of climate change. We know that we live on the oldest and driest continent on earth. We know, like you do, Madam Acting Deputy President Troeth, from your small-town background, as you have told me on occasions, that the threat of lack of water is one that many regional and rural Australians are well aware of. We cannot put our heads in the sand and ignore this as, it would appear, the National Party has. I am still unclear as to what is the daily position of the major coalition partner, the Liberals. Are they going to cooperate? Are they going to partner us on this? Are they going to debate it and try to get an outcome that not just the business community but the Australian community can live with? That is their task. I am not sure exactly what the daily position is, but maybe one of the speakers to follow me in this debate will fill us in.

I can go on. Maybe Senator Moore may wish to highlight some of the other companies that made submissions to the prime ministerial task group, understood the need to address the problem and wanted to be part of the solution. They did not stand on the outside waiting for someone to hand them a sheet, as indeed the coalition seems to be wishing would happen for them.

Today I want to support this bill. This bill forms an integral component of the Rudd Labor government’s efforts to tackle climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We are committed to reducing greenhouse emissions, and robust, accurate and reliable data is essential to achieving this goal in the most efficient and effective way possible. The bill builds on the emissions reporting requirements introduced by the previous government last year. The act as it stands establishes a framework for mandatory reporting of greenhouse gas emissions and energy production and consumption by industry. This system is called the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting System. This system will be critical to properly and precisely assessing and quantifying Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions. For the first time we will be able to provide public information on the emissions profiles of Australia’s larger corporations.

At the election last year, the working families of Australia made it clear that they were concerned about the impact of climate change on our country.