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

by leave—I move government amendments (1) to (24) on sheet AL234 together:

(1)    Clause 175, page 215 (line 19), omit “4 financial years”, substitute “9 financial years”.

(2)    Clause 175, page 215 (lines 21 to 24), omit the dot-point beginning with “If a windfall gain declaration is in force”, substitute:

• If a windfall gain declaration is in force in relation to a generation asset, the Minister may determine that the number of free units to be issued in respect of the generation asset for the financial years beginning on 1 July 2018, 1 July 2019 and 1 July 2020 is to be halved.

(3)    Clause 176, page 216 (after line 20), after paragraph (2)(e), insert:

              (f)    1 September in the eligible financial year beginning on 1 July 2016;

             (g)    1 September in the eligible financial year beginning on 1 July 2017;

             (h)    1 September in the eligible financial year beginning on 1 July 2018;

              (i)    1 September in the eligible financial year beginning on 1 July 2019;

              (j)    1 September in the eligible financial year beginning on 1 July 2020;

(4)    Clause 176, page 217 (before line 2), before paragraph (a) of the definition of generation assistance limit for that eligible financial year, insert:

           (aa)    if that eligible financial year begins on 1 July 2011—26,140,000; or

           (ab)    if that eligible financial year begins on 1 July 2012—26,140,000; or

(5)    Clause 176, page 217 (line 4), omit paragraph (b) of the definition of generation assistance limit for that eligible financial year, substitute:

             (b)    if that eligible financial year begins on 1 July 2014—26,140,000; or

             (c)    if that eligible financial year begins on 1 July 2015—26,140,000; or

             (d)    if that eligible financial year begins on 1 July 2016—19,600,000; or

             (e)    if that eligible financial year begins on 1 July 2017—19,600,000; or

              (f)    if that eligible financial year begins on 1 July 2018—19,600,000; or

             (g)    if that eligible financial year begins on 1 July 2019—19,600,000; or

             (h)    if that eligible financial year begins on 1 July 2020—19,600,000.

(6)    Heading to clause 183, page 228 (line 2), omit “No assistance for 2014-2015 or 2015-2016”, substitute “Reduced assistance for 2018-2019, 2019-2020 and 2020-2021”.

(7)    Clause 183, page 228 (lines 4 to 9), omit subclause (1), substitute:

        (1)    The Minister may, before 1 August 2018, by writing, determine that the number of free Australian emissions units that:

             (a)    have a vintage year of:

                   (i)    the eligible financial year beginning on 1 July 2018; or

                  (ii)    the eligible financial year beginning on 1 July 2019; or

                 (iii)    the eligible financial year beginning on 1 July 2020; and

             (b)    are to be issued in accordance with section 176 in respect of a specified generation asset;

is to be reduced by 50%.

(8)    Clause 184, page 228 (line 21), after “Minister has made”, insert “, or purportedly made,”.

(9)    Clause 184, page 229 (line 29) to page 230 (line 10), omit subclauses (2) to (4), substitute:

Revocation of determination

        (2)    The Minister must declare, in writing, that this Act has effect as if the determination made, or purportedly made, under subsection 183(1) is revoked.

        (3)    A declaration under subsection (2) is not a legislative instrument.

(10)  Page 230 (before line 11), before clause 185, insert:

184A  Revocation of Ministerial determination—issue of free Australian emissions units

Scope

        (1)    This section applies if:

             (a)    the Minister has made, or purportedly made, a determination under subsection 183(1) in relation to a generation asset; and

             (b)    as a result of the subsection 183(1) determination, a reduced number of free Australian emissions units have been issued to a person on a particular day in respect of the generation asset; and

             (c)    after the issue of those units, the Minister has made a declaration under subsection 184(2) in relation to the subsection 183(1) determination.

Issue of free Australian emissions units

        (2)    On the 10th business day after the day on which the subsection 184(2) declaration was made, the Authority must issue to the person, in respect of the generation asset, a number of free Australian emissions units that is equal to the reduced number mentioned in paragraph (1)(b).

        (3)    Free Australian emissions units issued in an eligible financial year in accordance with subsection (2) are to have a vintage year of the eligible financial year.

Registry account

        (4)    The Authority must not issue a free Australian emissions unit to the person in accordance with subsection (2) unless the person has a Registry account.

Other provisions

        (5)    Subsection (2) has effect subject to sections 185 and 188.

Note 1:  Section 185 deals with windfall gains.

Note 2:  Section 188 deals with power system reliability.

No double entitlement

        (6)    If free Australian emissions units have been, or are to be, issued to the person in accordance with subsection (2) of this section, subsection 176(2) has effect, in relation to the requirement to issue free Australian emissions units on the day mentioned in paragraph (1)(b) of this section in respect of the generation asset, as if:

             (a)    the subsection 184(2) declaration had never been made; and

             (b)    the relevant conditions set out in paragraph 184(1)(a), (b), (c) or (d) had never been satisfied; and

             (c)    in the case of a subsection 183(1) determination that was purportedly made—the determination had been validly made.

(11)  Clause 185, page 230 (line 14), omit “1 July 2013”, substitute “1 July 2017”.

(12)  Clause 185, page 230 (line 18), omit “30 September 2013”, substitute “30 September 2017”.

(13)  Clause 185, page 231 (line 5), omit “1 July 2014”, substitute “1 July 2018”.

(14)  Clause 185, page 231 (line 6), omit “1 July 2015;”, substitute “1 July 2019; or”.

(15)  Clause 185, page 231 (after line 6), after paragraph (4)(b), insert:

             (c)    the eligible financial year beginning on 1 July 2020;

(16)  Clause 186, page 231 (line 17), omit “1 April 2014”, substitute “1 April 2018”.

(17)  Clause 187, page 233 (after line 28), after subparagraph (3)(a)(iii), insert:

                 (iv)    the eligible financial year beginning on 1 July 2014;

                  (v)    the eligible financial year beginning on 1 July 2015;

                 (vi)    the eligible financial year beginning on 1 July 2016;

                (vii)    the eligible financial year beginning on 1 July 2017;

(18)  Clause 187, page 233 (line 32), omit “a vintage year of”, substitute “the following vintage years”.

(19)  Clause 187, page 234 (line 1), omit “1 July 2014”, substitute “1 July 2018”.

(20)  Clause 187, page 234 (line 2), omit “1 July 2015”, substitute “1 July 2019”.

(21)  Clause 187, page 234 (after line 2), after subparagraph (3)(b)(ii), insert:

                 (iii)    the eligible financial year beginning on 1 July 2020;

(22)  Clause 187, page 236 (line 27), omit “1 April 2013”, substitute “1 January 2017”.

(23)  Clause 187, page 236 (lines 28 and 29), omit “1 July 2013”, substitute “1 April 2017”.

(24)  Page 242 (after line 31), at the end of Part 9, add:

189C  Intermediary registered as a generator

                 If:

             (a)    a person (the first person) owns, controls or operates a generation complex; and

             (b)    under a law of the Commonwealth, a State or Territory relating to the regulation of energy markets, the first person is exempt from the requirement under that law to be registered as a generator in respect of the generation complex; and

             (c)    the first person is exempt because another person (the intermediary) is registered under that law as a generator in respect of the generation complex;

the intermediary is taken, for the purposes of this Division, to be a person who controls the generation complex.

These amendments extend the delivery of assistance to coal fired generators from five to 10 years and modify the windfall gains provisions. They give effect to the policy changes the government has agreed that will further enhance energy security in Australia and facilitate a smoother transition to lower carbon forms of energy. These changes follow the negotiations with the opposition and discussions on these issues.

We have also committed to a deferred payment arrangement and the future introduction of a low-emissions transition incentive to complement these amendments. The low-emissions transition incentive operates as an amendment to the power system reliability test, giving existing operators of coal fired generators the ability to replace their existing capacity with new generation with lower emissions intensity than current best-practice coal fired generation capacity in Australia while still receiving their Australian emissions units. The allocation formula for apportioning assistance between generation assets has not changed.