Nick Sherry (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Superannuation and Corporate Law) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—The government cannot agree to the motion by Senator Brown. The information sought does not align with current UN inventory rules and, accordingly, the government do not currently have this information. We are, however, happy to work with Senator Brown to provide a briefing on the information we do have available. The government’s accounting frameworks are based on requirements for the Kyoto protocol and United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. For the purposes of the Kyoto protocol and the associated rules on emission reporting, Australia only produces detailed accounts for deforestation, removal of forest cover to create a new land use and for new forest plantings. The Kyoto accounts do not cover the native forest estate. Under the UNFCCC inventory rules, Australia provides a broad assessment of emissions and removals from native forests but not broken down to the extent required in this motion.

Question put:

That the motion (Senator Bob Brown’s) be agreed to.