David Johnston (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

Just to support what Senator McLucas said, I think the legislation is much the better for these provisions. Let us face it, ministers are building public buildings, railway lines, roads and bridges—you name it—which are all very risk-laden activities. The minister, the department, the government and the parliament can only do their best to mitigate those risks. This legislation is an example of seeking a very laudable and noble outcome through providing a system which, if it works, if is done properly and if it is safe, will be a substantial advance in environmentalism. It will take literally millions, if not billions, of tonnes of carbon out of the atmosphere, which is something I know that Senator Milne would want. We are seeking to do it in a way that is feasible, reasonable, safe and risk averse. That is what this piece of legislation seeks to do. At the end of the day, we cannot guarantee that the site or sites used will not be affected by geophysical activity or by something that we could not possibly know about or that was not reasonably foreseeable. But, at the end of the day, we would not get out of bed if we relied on that perspective too greatly.