Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Education and Training) Share this | Hansard source

Tempting though it might be to respond to the very wide-ranging contribution Senator Lazarus made just then, much of which was addressed in various forms during the second reading debate, I will stick to the question before the chair. The government does not accept or support the proposition of Senator Lazarus in relation to removing item 2 of schedule 1. That of course would basically negate the primary purpose of the bill before the Senate, which is to ensure that the renewable energy target is successful, that it meets the intention—and indeed exceeds the intention—of having 20 per cent of energy generation from renewable sources by 2020. In fact, we will have around 23 per cent as a result of that with the revised 33,000-gigawatt-hour target, without having the risks of the RET failing or the additional cost implications being passed through to Australian consumers or businesses.