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

Thanks for the question. I have a couple of points that go to your broader contribution, Senator Cox. The amendments that were made to the London protocol that are the subject of this bill were made in 2009 and then in 2013. They were then considered by the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties in 2020. The legislation that's before us commenced development under the previous government. What's before us today is a longstanding commitment, across successive governments, to meet our obligations under the London protocol, to which we are a signatory.

The effect of these changes potentially provides a pathway for any number of project proponents to make application in relation to the transport or movement of carbon dioxide. You're incorrect to say that we've sought to hide its connection to gas projects, which I think was your assertion. Under the safeguard legislation, if they are covered projects, gas projects are required to reduce their emissions, and of course the government recognises that carbon capture and storage may be one of the mechanisms that they use. Under those arrangements, proponents are responsible for the emissions that remain, and so of course it is in the interests of proponents to develop projects that actually are effective in sequestering emissions.

That's, for the most part, not the subject of this bill. This bill is relatively narrow in seeking to establish a framework for the transborder movement of carbon dioxide. As I've explained on many occasions, it is the government's view that it's important to have a framework for assessments of projects of this kind in place before we receive advice that projects of this kind want to proceed. There's quite a lot of work that would need to be done before any permit could be issued, including establishing a bilateral agreement with an importing or a receiving country. There is a significant set of steps that would need to be taken before we got to the point of issuing any kind of permit.

In any case, any project that was undertaken in Australian waters would be subject to all of the existing regulatory arrangements that would apply to any project, and nothing about this bill changes that. That includes that nothing about this bill alters any of the existing arrangements that apply in relation to cultural heritage.