Christine Milne (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Birmingham has just clarified why the minister is actually wrong in assuming that the intent of what was moved yesterday is what the Greens have in mind. They are two diametrically opposed positions. The Greens are coming from a perspective of wanting to make sure there is long-term sustainable growth in the renewable energy sector. The coalition’s amendment which was agreed to by the government was not negotiated with the Greens because it is coming from the perspective of the aluminium sector and the big liable entities. They are required to take up the renewable energy certificates. They are worried that if the small-scale renewables explode and expand as we would like them to that will increase the liability for those large-scale industries, the aluminium sector et al, to have to take up those certificates. The perspective of the coalition is that they are trying to limit the liability of the aluminium sector to the detriment of the small-scale solar sector in particular.

This amendment is the aluminium industry amendment that came through here yesterday and it is vastly different from a perspective which says, ‘We want to make sure that we don’t overheat and have a debacle like the insulation debacle where shonks got into the market, where things were not regulated properly and it didn’t lead to a sustainable industry’ Our perspective is to grow the renewable energy sector as sustainably in a managed way so that there is certainty into the future and a pathway for expansion. What the coalition put to the government and was agreed to yesterday is an aluminium industry amendment to restrict the growth of renewables because the aluminium sector does not want to have to take up the increased liability that they are required to take up as liable entities. Let us get completely on the record what is going on here.

I will be interested to see what does happen when we get closer to 2015. The only thing I will say is that with these review processes and the rapid changes in the industry there will be changes between now and 2015 obviously, and so to a certain extent it is academic. At this point, I want to make it very clear: our perspective is to grow the industry, not to provide surety to the aluminium sector.