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

We are very confident, as I said in question time very explicitly again today, that we will meet the five per cent emissions reduction target, and I would point out again what I said in question time today: Australia actually, for a very long time, has had an exceptionally good track record in meeting its emissions reduction target, unlike some of the more vocal countries in other parts of the world that are part of the agenda that Senator Milne is trying to propagate. I will also say again that, given her position of fighting for regular reductions in the real value of the tax on fuel, she really has no credibility coming into this chamber with these sorts of arguments. Senator Milne is fighting not only to ensure that there are regular reductions in the real value of the excise on fuel; she is also fighting for a windfall for big oil companies. The final point I would make is that the reason that we have not modelled the possibility of sourcing permits internationally is that we made a deliberate policy decision to deploy 100 per cent of our own resources domestically here in Australia, to maximise emissions reductions and the emissions reduction effort domestically, here in Australia.