Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to Senator Abetz, the Minister representing the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources. Is the minister aware that the 2005 Tracking to the Kyoto target report forecast that Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions would rise by 22 per cent between 1990 and 2020? Doesn’t the 2006 edition of this report show that our emissions will rise by 27 per cent between 1990 and 2020, five percent more than previously predicted? Can the minister explain why the government’s own projections of greenhouse emissions are getting worse? Doesn’t this show that after 11 long years in office the Howard government has failed to tackle our greenhouse emissions? Why has the Howard government so comprehensively failed to reduce emissions to help combat climate change?

Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I do not know where Senator Brown has been hiding in recent times, but she would be aware, for example, that at APEC we raised the issue of climate change as a very important issue for world leaders. Interestingly enough, it was the Australian government under the leadership of Prime Minister Howard, the foreign minister, Alexander Downer, and the environment minister, Malcolm Turnbull, that actually put it on the agenda. When the alternate Prime Minister had the opportunity to engage with the United States President on this issue for a full 45 minutes, what did Mr Rudd do? He did not mention the issue of climate change. Why? For cheap domestic purposes he seeks to raise climate change, but he squibs it when he can actually do something about it like engaging positively with the President of the United States. He is unable to deal with the issue. For the first time ever, because of Australia’s handling of this issue, we were able to get the countries of Russia, China and the United States to sit down together and talk about this issue in a very constructive way.

Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Industry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

They’re all aspirational!

Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Carr can interject and say it is all aspirational and all sorts of things, but can I tell him this: talking about climate change at least is better than not talking about it, like Mr Rudd did. That is a classic case of Australia taking the challenge of climate change very, very seriously.

The Climate Institute’s analysis should focus on the energy sector, where its consultants have expertise and where available data might be more reliable. But the government’s emission projections to 2010, released in December last year, draw on detailed economic modelling of all sectors prepared by Australia’s leading experts in the field and show that Australia is performing well against its Kyoto target. The latest national greenhouse accounts provide complete and comprehensive data on Australia’s greenhouse emissions and show that Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions were 102.2 per cent of 1990 levels in 2005, and these results are consistent with the latest projections. Both Australia’s national greenhouse accounts and emission projections are prepared by the Australian Greenhouse Office according to international guidelines and subject to international review. As I understand it, Australia has produced annual inventories for quite some time.

Yes, we are always monitoring; we are always looking at this issue. Indeed, later this day, this Senate will be debating legislation dealing with this very issue. I invite Senator Brown to have a look at the actual record of what is happening.

Michael Ronaldson (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Where is he?

Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

No, this is Senator Carol Brown—the more sensible of the two Senator Browns, might I add. But on this occasion she has not covered herself in glory with the question that has been provided to her. But, having said that, we as a government do take climate change very seriously. We have taken the appropriate action and that is why, in the world arena, we are regarded as leaders and that is why the APEC community was so willing to engage with us in Sydney recently. (Time expired)

Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. Doesn’t the fact that Australia’s emissions keep getting worse, even after all the warnings about climate change, show the need for a clear target for emission reductions? Doesn’t the government’s total failure to provide business and consumers with the certainty of a clear target undermine the effort to seriously tackle climate change?

Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We were just told about Australians being concerned about reducing emissions. Guess what? Just recently we as a government circulated to every household in Australia what they could do about this issue. And who were the ones who condemned us? The Australian Labor Party—the people who today are now feigning concern about this issue! The Labor Party cannot have it both ways. Either it is a matter of national significance for every single citizen in Australia and therefore they should be assisted in engaging on this important issue, or it is not. When we do it, we are condemned. We raise it at APEC—Mr Rudd does not raise it at APEC—but of course they are the alleged champions. Mr President, it is another classic case of Labor saying, ‘Do as we say, not as we do’; whereas we are actually taking the hard actions engaging with people to ensure that we get good results.