Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Finance and Deregulation) Share this | Hansard source

I welcome yet another question on a piece of legislation that has already passed the parliament. In relation to the question from Senator Birmingham, I refer him to the same table to which I referred Senator Abetz. I would again make the point that the assumptions in the medium global action scenario, which are transparently set out in the document, are that countries take action in accordance with their low-end pledges as made to both Copenhagen and Cancun. You would see that multistage action is assumed in the medium global action scenario, where developed countries and China lead mitigation efforts initially and all countries act by 2031. The assumption between 2013 and 2015 is for uncoordinated global action but no trade in permits and differentiated carbon prices. From 2016 onwards countries trade either bilaterally or through a central market.

Senator Brandis interjecting—

I will take that interjection. The senator said, 'That is right.' Well, there is an assumption as to international trading. There is already international trading, so one should not assume the detail of any particular domestic policy has to underpin an assumption of there being international trading. Obviously we already have, for example, a voluntary market. We have CDM, the Clean Development Mechanism trading, which is already on foot.

In relation to OPEC there is table 3.2, but I suspect—and I am only quickly looking at this—that this may well be at 2020 and a 2050 target. The senator would see that there are assumptions in percentage— (Time expired)