Christine Milne (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I hear the minister’s frustration about this debate, but the frustration is shared by the community, who want to actually have answers to these questions. It is the community who are going to pay a higher price because the government has made this decision. I note that she said that she took all relevant modelling into account. I would be interested to know specifically which modelling was taken into account in addition to the McLennan Magasanik modelling.

While we are talking about modelling, last night I read into the Hansard what Hugh Saddler had to say about the percentage of the existing renewable energy target that is taken up by solar hot water and heat pumps. He estimates that, of the existing target, it has around 24 per cent. He went on to say that he thinks it will have 20 per cent of the expanded space in renewable energy by 2020. The minister says, no, their modelling shows much less than that. I ask the minister if she would provide the modelling that shows that the assessment of Dr Saddler, who is an expert in the field, is wrong. I would be very interested in seeing that modelling.

I conclude by saying that the Greens believe the community is desperate to get renewable energy out there and expanded. They want to have that opportunity to be able to reduce carbon emissions and they are prepared to pay extra for renewable energy. But to have included in these measures the coal gas and the burning of native forests, to be giving these massive exemptions to the polluters and to refuse to rule out a windfall gain is not going to make the community feel the kind of enthusiasm in the transition to a low-carbon future that I think they would have liked to have felt. It remains to be seen, of course, as this begins to operate, what does happen to the pool prices. I think it is tragic that the review is not going to occur before 2014. If the government had accepted the Greens’ proposition, there would be a review in two years. I believe that that would have been an appropriate thing to do because I believe there are going to be a lot of outcomes that are not what the government is anticipating.