Jenny McAllister (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Climate Change and Energy) Share this | Hansard source

Thanks for your question, Senator Pocock. The situation you describe is an interesting one, isn't it, because implicit in the way that you ask the question is an acknowledgement that the land sector potentially, in a low-carbon world, is a source of real value. It offers enormous potential to store carbon, and, once a value is attached to that, that's potentially a source of value for landowners and landholders that can provide social, economic and environmental benefits to regional communities and to the landholders themselves. There are co-benefits as well. Soil carbon projects obviously have a carbon benefit, but they also improve soil health and potentially agricultural productivity. We've got lots of people operating in that way now around the country, doing interesting work and I think advocating in really interesting ways for sustainable farming.

But you're right that it's not without tensions, and we ought to pay attention to the way that change impacts on regional communities. This was something that was considered by Professor Chubb in his review, and that review recommended that the government continue to support regional communities to participate in and to benefit from the creation of ACCUs. The government is working on implementing that recommendation. As a first step the government will implement a $20 million carbon farming outreach program. This program will support farmers and other land managers to access independent trusted advice to empower them to make informed decisions about whether and how to participate in carbon markets. This will ensure that farmers can make the decisions that are right for them and right for their businesses.