Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

It is something I dealt with in addition if I recall during my summing up speech. To be clear, it is an area where the government has recognised the need to keep this under review because the environmental integrity is the risk of the reversal buffer. The government accepts that there needs to be continuing monitoring of that. Particularly, it has recognised the need to keep this under review as further evidence is gathered of the potential risk that could occur.

The CSIRO is well placed to do further work in this area. Similarly, which you talked about, the permanence requirements which are relevant only for sequestration projects will also be monitored in light of international consensus on these issues. It is one of those areas where the government recognises some of the issues that you raise but it is important to put them in perspective. First of all to go through the approval process, if I use that broad frame, from the methodology being approved, the recognised offset entity, the project approval, reporting, crediting, the termination of transfer of projects through to compliance, all of that means that there are methodologies which will have to be dealt with. Then they can use those which adds to the framework to ensure that the project does actually provide that permanence and proponents will not have to hand back credits for losses caused by such things as you raised, namely the impact of a drought or a natural disturbance.

These carbon stores will recover as forests regrow. Of course we have seen across the eastern seaboard as droughts lift we return to, in some instances, other natural disturb­ances such as floods. But they too, as we have seen across Queensland, are recovered from. Having gone into some of these regions I have seen roads, infrastructure and bridges being rebuilt but also the return to farming in those areas which suffered damage. NRMs are also assisting in returning areas to their natural state. All of that means that the proponents will not have to hand back credits for losses caused by those instances that you raised specifically.