Annette Hurley (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is good to at least have the opposition acknowledging that there are other countries in the world embarking on the process of bringing in emissions trading schemes, because it has been all too common amongst the opposition in the past to just state blandly, and wrongly, that no other major countries are developing such schemes. There are schemes already operating in 31 European countries. The US President, Barack Obama, has confirmed his commitment to a cap-and-trade scheme and the US emissions reduction targets of a return to 1990 levels by 2020 and 80 per cent below 1990 levels by 2050. The US House of Representatives passed the bill and, as we have heard, the Senate committees are currently working on that legislation. The Canadian government, as the minister said, is working to introduce an emissions trading scheme and has committed to developing and implementing a North America wide cap-and-trade system—the same sort of system that Australia is working on. Twenty-seven states and provinces in the US and Canada are also introducing emissions trading schemes.

Japan is already trialling a voluntary emissions trading scheme and has stated its intention to introduce a domestic scheme in 2011-12. New Zealand’s government is amending its existing emissions trading scheme, which will bring it into closer alignment with Australia’s CPRS. Australia and New Zealand have also agreed to explore further the alignment and harmonisation of our respective scheme designs. So there are many, many countries around the world working towards a cap-and-trade emissions scheme—the same scheme that this government has brought through the House of Representatives and that is currently in the Senate.

What is happening at Copenhagen is that the international community are coming together to try and get an effective agreement on the way forward. This is for both developed and developing countries. This is a complex negotiation and a complex matter, because countries are clearly at different stages of advancement and have different abilities to contribute to a reduction in carbon pollution around the world. Australia is taking an active and useful part in this attempt to get an agreement. No-one pretends that Australia is able to bring everyone to the table together by itself, but in contributing in an active and constructive manner we hope to be able to get an agreement on this complex issue around the table at Copenhagen.

It is a complex issue and the Australian government is up to developing its strategy in a complex matter, unlike so many people opposite me in the Senate here, who are unable to develop any kind of comprehensive or complex strategy. Their answer is simply no. ‘No, we are not considering this issue at all. Our answer is no. We won’t consider any constructive amendments.’ In many cases, they will not even consider that climate change is a possibility. Their single answer is no.

This Labor government is going to Copenhagen with a constructive, positive strategy to deal with this complex issue around the world. That is what the government is doing. Governments are trying to strike a deal. Governments from around the world are acknowledging that climate change is a problem, that carbon pollution is a problem, and are looking at the best way to strike a deal that enables us to go forward. But most of the opposition senators in this chamber do not want to strike a deal. They do not want to go forward. They do not want to make any advancement in the reduction of carbon pollution. They are just saying a straight no, and that is not good enough for this government. This government will go to Copenhagen and will work with other countries in a cooperative manner.