Jan McLucas (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health and Ageing) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Milne, I think you would be aware that the legislation requires that a prepayment would be made for monitoring by any licence holder. That is not a time limited payment. I think it is also flexible so that it can respond to the various risks that the minister may or may not see for monitoring. It would also reflect the size of the site; it would reflect how the site is behaving. So there is an opportunity in the legislation, which you would imagine would be taken up, for a prepayment monitoring charge. It is a capital payment. As I said, it is not time limited.

Should the event occur where there is a breakdown in technology or an escaping of greenhouse gases, after all of that rigour has been gone through, after we have gone through the process of the closure certificate—which, as I am sure we will talk about some more, I can confirm to you is much stronger than anything we have ever seen in the development industry or in the mining industry—it would be at that point that government would have the liability. But it is the government’s view, and I think this is shared by the opposition, that we do not predict that will happen. This legislation has been drafted in such a way as to protect human health and safety and the environment with an approach of constant monitoring and vigilance—I think that is the right word—through the life of the project. So it is our view that the amendments moved by the Greens are not required.