Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I indicate on behalf of the opposition that we will not be supporting Senator Xenophon’s amendment. The principles behind Senator Xenophon’s amendments are important. We believe that we have been able to negotiate with the government, in relation to this aspect, to achieve an outcome that would deliver on this.

In relation to Senator Milne’s comments, I cannot let them go by. The arguments have been well rehearsed over the days. The government’s approach in relation to this is to ensure security of electricity supply. To say that part of an emissions trading scheme is to actually reduce the asset value and do that overnight would of course send shockwaves, and that is why the Victorian state government ensured that the Morgan Stanley report in relation to the viability of Victorian power stations was released. It is a bit like the IPART report, which the New South Wales state government released, dealing with the problems of the energy generators. To simply say: ‘You beauty. This scheme would have this impact,’ when Australian households and Australian industry no longer had certainty of electricity supplies, then you would understand what the impact would be if Green policies—and when I say ‘green’ I mean the Australian Greens party political policies—were to be implemented. So we stand with the government in relation to this. We say that if you do not want Hazelwood operating in Victoria—and I can understand that it is a dated and polluting power station—you actually need an alternative source of power supply, and that is why the government’s arrangements in this area of transitioning are so important. I think Senator Xenophon would not adopt the more extreme approach that Senator Milne was just indicating. So I indicate that the opposition will not be supporting this amendment, on the basis that we believe that an appropriate arrangement has been entered into with the government.