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

I thank the minister for that clarification. I understand from that that even though the existing act does say that the prescribed eligible carbon unit means a prescribed unit that is issued under a scheme relating to either or both of the following, the second one being the avoidance of emissions of one or more greenhouse gases, it is immaterial whether a unit was issued in or outside Australia. I take it from your answer that the regulations accompanying this bill are going to specifically say that they cannot be sought from outside Australia. If that is not correct, then I will ask the minister to clarify.

On the second point, I have just heard the minister say that, as far as the government is concerned, the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency are still up to be abolished and that it will not reintroduce the legislation to abolish them before the end of the year but could well do it early in the new year. So I ask about the status of this agreement between the government and the Palmer United Party, where the Palmer United Party is saying that it has saved the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and ARENA. You are saying there is no such agreement and you intend to move on the abolition legislation in the new year. So, perhaps someone from the Palmer United Party could clarify the understanding of this agreement that you have supposedly reached.