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

Perhaps one of the difficulties is that Senator Milne has a particular policy view about Tasmanian forests—to which she is entitled—but is really seeking to assert a range of policy propositions through this legislation which are about that issue. I again refer you to my answer before the break, Senator. It is the case that the detail on all of these offsets has not been finalised. That is why what the amendments do is to set out the regime which enables them to be finalised. That is why the legislation talks about the objectives. I have referred you to those objectives, including in relation to additionality.

I have explained that, if this legislation is passed with these amendments, we will put in place a committee to consider the factual circumstances of the range of offsets which are set out in the legislation for the purposes of considering that additionality. I do not propose to go to hypotheticals such as some of the ones Senator Milne proposes, because those hypotheticals assume certain facts which would be the subject of consideration by the committee in the context of a very clear legislative requirement around additionality, around integrity and around clarity.

In terms of the point about needing to make sure people know what is required of them, I agree with that, but that work needs to be done. Obviously, some of that work has been commenced. There has been work progressed through our current consultation processes with the agricultural sector, but I absolutely concede and agree that this work is there to be done, and so it should be. This legislation is putting forward the framework which enables that to occur and a process which will enable that to be resolved. It is prescriptive as to the need to be measurable and capable of being verified. The subclause I read out before reads:

… the project would not have been proposed or carried out in the absence of the issue of free Australian emissions units in accordance with the domestic offsets program …

So that is the additionality objective. What the committee determines is required as the methodology to ensure these policy objectives are met in relation to each particular section of this, or each particular type of offset, will be a matter for the committee and it will involve technical work—quite highly technical work—and that is as it should be.