Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

On behalf of the government, I thank all senators for their participation in this debate. I thank Senator Xenophon, Senator Madigan, Senator Muir and all of the members of the Palmer United Party for their constructive engagement on the Carbon Farming Initiative Amendment Bill 2014. The government will be supporting a number of the amendments foreshadowed by Senator Xenophon and the Palmer United Party, which will strengthen this bill.

The bill will establish the Emissions Reduction Fund. The bill also streamlines the existing processes of the Carbon Farming Initiative, removing red tape while maintaining environmental integrity. The fund is a major environmental program and demonstrates the government's commitment to achieving a cleaner environment and reduced emissions in partnership with business and the community. The fund will provide positive incentives for Australian businesses, farmers and households to lower their energy use, improve productivity and reduce costs

Our government has removed the carbon tax and has overseen the largest reduction in household electricity prices in decades. Through the Emissions Reduction Fund established by this bill the government will support Australian business, farmers and the community to enjoy the benefits of economic growth, increased productivity and a cleaner environment.

During the debate today a series of comments have been made. There was a complaint about the fact that this policy has not had any scrutiny. The truth is that this matter has had significant scrutiny over many, many years. In fact, the coalition have taken our direct action policy to two elections. This is one of the most scrutinised policies ever in the history of the Commonwealth, and is only overtaken by the level of scrutiny on our policy to scrap the carbon tax. The thing that the Labor Party and the Greens still cannot get used to is that, on 7 September 2013, there was a thing called an election. Elections in Australia are the way that we settle policy disagreements, and the people of Australia have spoken. If the Labor Party and the Greens are concerned that they did not get 100 per cent of the policy we took to the last election, if they would have preferred to get 100 per cent of the direct action policy we took to the last election, then they should have voted for it. What we did, quite rationally and quite pragmatically, was to work, positively and constructively, with those senators in this chamber that were prepared to engage with the government in an effort to find common ground and to make judgements about progress on public policy in the national interest.

Senator Milne raised a question around the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and ARENA and what their status is. I can confirm that the government's policy remains to abolish the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and ARENA. The Clean Energy Finance Corporation does not achieve a return for the budget, as has been erroneously asserted by some during this debate. People have failed to take into account the fact that the capital, which has been put into the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, is 100 per cent borrowed and that there is a cost of borrowings. And, of course, the Clean Energy Finance Corporation has been in place for a very short time and there is absolutely no capacity at all to reliably assess the commercial viability of that particular venture.

Senator Milne had various other complaints. I have to say that I find it difficult to take Senator Milne very seriously when it comes to matters related to the environment because Senator Milne, these days, is fighting really hard to ensure that we have regular cuts in the tax on fuel. Senator Milne's mission in life, these days, is to stand up for those that want to see regular reductions in the real value of the excise on fuel. Senator Milne is standing up for big oil companies and wants to make sure that big oil companies get a windfall from her opposition to our efforts to ensure that the tax on fuel is not eroded by inflation, as it has been over the last 13 years.

There have been various other comments made. Let me make a general point. When Labor and the Greens are complaining about a deal and about the fact that we have reached an agreement with senators on the crossbench, who were prepared to engage positively and constructively with the government, they were really whingeing and complaining from the sidelines about the public policy debate in Australia. They have made themselves completely irrelevant. I said earlier in Senate question time that Senator Milne has led the Greens from the wilderness to the political desert of oblivion. I know that there are people out there in the Greens that are backgrounding exactly that point to journalists in the press gallery. There is one particular Greens member in the House of Representatives—and there are not that many of in the House of Representatives that could fall into that category—who is out there suggesting that he could take the Greens back to greener pastures. I guess these matters will resolve themselves in the fullness of time.

I thought I should quickly comment in relation to an observation made by Senator Day. Senator Day is quite right, I did say the other day that coal is good. Coal is good for humanity. Coal is central to our economic prosperity today because of what it has contributed in the past, and it will be central to our prosperity in Australia and to the prosperity of people around the world in years to come. That does not mean that we should not make serious efforts— (Quorum formed)

I thank Senator Singh for calling that quorum. She was clearly very keen to ensure that I had a bigger audience for the pearls of wisdom I was sharing with the chamber.

I say it again: coal is good for humanity. Coal has been central to our economic prosperity. We owe much of our quality of life here in Australia today to the contribution coal has made to our economic development in the past—and it will continue to contribute in the future, both here in Australia and around the world. That does not mean that we should not make every effort to reduce emissions in a direct, sensible, effective way—in a way that is economically responsible and environmentally effective. That is exactly what the coalition's Direct Action Plan, which we have taken to the last two elections, will do. Having responded to Senator's Day's observation, I commend the bill to the Senate.