Senate debates
Monday, 30 November 2009
Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme Bill 2009 [No. 2]; Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2009 [No. 2]; Australian Climate Change Regulatory Authority Bill 2009 [No. 2]; Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (Charges — Customs) Bill 2009 [No. 2]; Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (Charges — Excise) Bill 2009 [No. 2]; Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (Charges — General) Bill 2009 [No. 2]; Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS Fuel Credits) Bill 2009 [No. 2]; Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS Fuel Credits) (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2009 [No. 2]; Excise Tariff Amendment (Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme) Bill 2009 [No. 2]; Customs Tariff Amendment (Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme) Bill 2009 [No. 2]; Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme Amendment (Household Assistance) Bill 2009 [No. 2]
In Committee
3:23 pm
Nick Xenophon (SA, Independent) Share this | Hansard source
I thank both Senator Joyce and Minister for Climate Change and Water for their responses. In relation to some of the matters raised by the minister I would like to put on the record that Frontier Economics are willing to show all their modelling and all their analysis to Treasury and to the minister’s department. They have made that very clear. There was a meeting earlier this year between Frontier the department—I think in about April, but I may be mistaken. The minister’s Chief of Staff, Don Frater, was at that meeting and I think it is fair to say that it was discussion on the government’s scheme rather than a detailed consideration of the Frontier scheme. I think that is a fair summary of that meeting. It was useful, but in my view it was not a detailed analysis of the Frontier scheme.
There is a real concern that a number of aspects of the modelling have not been released. I am grateful that the government provided some details last week, a partial response, but it still has not provided details of how the climate change agreement funds will be distributed, how the level and allocation of assistance is determined or how regional impacts are estimated. It also has not given details of how the household assistance will be calculated and distributed—which households are eligible, how the level of assistance per household is to be determined, whether household assistance will vary with the carbon price and, if so, how frequently it will be adjusted. This relates to Treasury’s analysis of the Frontier scheme.
Those are some of a number of aspects that have not been provided. There is an absolute willingness on the part of Frontier to engage with the government and to show all their information, all the details in relation to this. Let us put this into perspective. I think the minister said that she commends me for my loyalty to Mr Price and Frontier. I think it is a question of loyalty to a good idea. I first fought battles with Mr Price against the South Australian Liberal government in 1998-99.
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