Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change and Water) Share this | Hansard source

Again, I make the point that if you have a target you need to have a mechanism to meet it. While some in this parliament may like to think that just talking about a target ensures that you meet it, we on this side understand that this is a significant and major economic reform. We will approach it responsibly, which is how we have approached it.

In terms of Australia’s target, I again remind the senator that Australia’s target of 25 per cent below 2000 levels by 2020 represents a very substantial reduction. In fact, between the period 1990 and 2020 it is almost a halving of Australia’s per capita emissions. It means that we are doing as much or more than the European Union in terms of where we are now and to where we go.