Ron Boswell (Queensland, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

asked the Minister representing the Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, upon notice, on 19 September 2011:

In regard to cost estimates of the Coalition's direct action scheme:

(1) Given that on 2 March 2011, the Minister put out a press release on cost estimates of the 'Coalition's Direct Action policy', citing analysis undertaken by the Department, is the Minister familiar with that analysis?

(2) Given that the Minister's statement claimed that the department's figures showed that the Coalition's Direct Action policy would cost more than $30 billion by 2020 rather than the claimed $10.5 billion, is the Department comfortable that the figures in its analysis are reliable?

(3) With reference to evidence given in a Senate hearing on 10 August by Treasury officials that, on Treasury advice, the Gillard Government had not prepared fiscal impact estimates of the Clean Energy Future package beyond the forward estimates (e.g. beyond 2014-15), and in particular, Ms Luise McCulloch, General Manager, Industry, Environment and Defence Division at Treasury who stated that estimates of fiscal impact beyond the forward estimates were 'unreliable' and 'misleading':

  (a) does the Department agree with Treasury that any fiscal estimate of climate policy proposals beyond 2014-15 would be 'unreliable' and 'misleading'; and

  (b) why has the Department issued cost estimates of the Coalition/Direct Action policy through to 2020 when Treasury has concluded that any fiscal estimate of climate policy proposals beyond 2014-15 would be unreliable and 'misleading'?