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

by leave—I move government amendments (6) and (7) on sheet BE242 together:

(6)    Clause 24, page 70 (line 22), before “For the purposes of”, insert “(1)”.

(7)    Clause 24, page 70 (after line 30), at the end of the clause, add:

Exclusion of agricultural emissions

        (2)    For the purposes of this Act, an emission of a greenhouse gas from the operation of a facility does not include any of the following emissions:

             (a)    an emission of methane from the digestive tract of livestock;

             (b)    an emission of:

                   (i)    methane; or

                  (ii)    nitrous oxide;

                      from the decomposition of:

                 (iii)    livestock urine; or

                 (iv)    livestock dung;

             (c)    an emission of methane from:

                   (i)    rice fields; or

                  (ii)    rice plants;

             (d)    an emission of:

                   (i)    methane; or

                  (ii)    nitrous oxide;

                      from the burning of:

                 (iii)    savannas; or

                 (iv)    grasslands;

             (e)    an emission of:

                   (i)    methane; or

                  (ii)    nitrous oxide;

                      from the burning of:

                 (iii)    crop stubble in fields; or

                 (iv)    crop residues in fields; or

                  (v)    sugar cane before harvest;

              (f)    an emission of:

                   (i)    carbon dioxide; or

                  (ii)    methane; or

                 (iii)    nitrous oxide;

                      from soil.

        (3)    Paragraph (2)(f) does not apply to an emission that is attributable to the operation of a landfill facility.

This is consistent with the position that the government has announced. We negotiated an agreement in good faith with the opposition. We remain of the view that action on climate change is a critical and key challenge for the nation’s future. We are extremely disappointed that the opposition appears to have chosen again to delay or oppose action on climate change. I suggest that that is not only contrary to the position they took to the last election; it is contrary to the position former Prime Minister Howard took and to the aspirations and hopes of the many Australians who have continued to press for action on climate change.

The government will continue to stand ready to honour our agreement with the opposition. We will honour it because we believe it is in the national interest for whole-of-economy reforms such as this to be delivered with bipartisan support. We will honour the agreement because it has been supported by a broad range of environment, community and industry groups, including the Business Council, the Australian Industry Group, WWF, the Climate Institute, ACOSS and the Aluminium Council, to name a few. We will honour this deal because we agreed to amendments that had to meet a test of environmental effectiveness, economic credibility and fiscal responsibility. Most of all, we will honour our part of the agreement because it delivers on the government’s commitment to the Australian people, and we call on the opposition to deliver on the commitment they made at the last election. The amendments before the chamber are to exclude agricultural emissions from the scheme and to make clear the position of the government as previously announced.