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

Senator, in relation to what is going to COAG, I note you were paired last night and were not here to move your amendments. I provided that advice to the Leader of the Greens and to the chamber twice, I think, and I have also provided it to you privately. So I do not know that I would suggest that extending this debate on a bill that I understand everyone is going to vote for—perhaps not Senator Fielding—is a sensible use of the chamber’s time. I can reiterate it to you again if you wish.

In relation to trade exposure, we do have a test in the white paper, which is the test that companies conducting activities seeking exemption would have to meet, and I would refer you to that. It is the case for a range of these firms that they are competing in the markets where the international price is set not necessarily with regard to increased electricity costs as the result of renewable energy policies.

In relation to the cost-shifting argument, I would make two points. The first is that the senator comes in here making a whole range of assertions as fact about contracts to which she is not a party and the Commonwealth is not a party and which are by their very nature commercial-in-confidence. I make no comment about those contracts; they are not contracts that the Commonwealth is a party to. She can have an argument about the history in Tasmania; I am not party to that. We make policy on the basis of what we think is sensible policy across the economy.

We are not exempting for the current MRET—I want to say that again. We did not accept that amendment, for the very sound reason that it seemed to us that compensating and assisting industry for a liability that was already in place and for which there was no Commonwealth assistance was not sensible. What we are assisting with is a proportion, a partial exemption, of the expanded liability.

In relation to the assertion about wholesale price, we could have a modelling argument for a number of hours. I would say this to the senator: there are a range of modelling outcomes in relation to wholesale price. There is credible modelling in the MMA report commissioned by the Department of Climate Change which suggests the average increase in the wholesale price would be half of one per cent. We are only providing partial exemption for the extended liability under the extended renewable energy target; we are not providing exemption for the existing renewable energy target. In those circumstances, my advice is that a windfall gain is unlikely. If the modelling is not accurate in a range of ways, and if the design of the policy requires reconsideration, we have said that there will be a review in 2014 to consider these issues. That would be an issue amongst a number of other issues that could be dealt with in those circumstances.

I think I have addressed and responded to all the issues that were raised by the senator.