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
3:59 pm
Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change and Water) Share this | Hansard source
I am pleased that you truncated it. The government does not support this amendment. The effect of the amendment is to ensure that these particular projects would receive credits or offsets under the scheme even if this activity would have occurred anyway. That is contrary to the concept of additionality, and the reason we have to be very clear about that principle is that offsets enable additional emissions within the cap—so they have to be real offsets. We have an additionality test which I traversed with the Senate yesterday or the day before. Or was it Friday? It was some time ago. But the effect of this amendment is to say that, even if you do not meet the test of this being additional, we are going to give you offsets. We do not think that is a sensible proposition.
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