Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Health Administration) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to amend general business notice of motion No. 334 standing in my name for today relating to an order for the production of documents, information and Treasury modelling contained in Australia’s Low Pollution Future: The economics of climate change mitigation. I also seek leave to make a brief statement before asking that it be taken as a formal motion.

Leave granted.

Since this motion was lodged yesterday, the Senate Select Committee on Fuel and Energy received a response from the Treasurer to its request for access to this information. In his response, the Treasurer refused the committee’s request, stating contractual obligations to external consultants used by the government in conducting its Treasury modelling. The fuel and energy committee met earlier today to consider the Treasurer’s refusal to provide access to the requested information. The committee takes the view that access to this information is in the public interest. It requires it to ensure proper scrutiny of the government’s carbon pollution reduction scheme as proposed in its white paper and, in particular, as it relates to the likely impact of the government’s proposed scheme on the economy and jobs, especially in these difficult economic times. Our advice from the Clerk of the Senate is that, if the Senate insists on the production of these documents, parliamentary privilege will override any relevant contractual obligations of the government. As such, it remains the strong recommendation of the fuel and energy committee to proceed with this motion. I move the motion as amended:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes that:

(i)

the Select Committee on Fuel and Energy contracted Dr Brian Fisher from Concept Economics to conduct an independent peer review of the Department of the Treasury modelling of the impact of the Government’s proposed Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme,

(ii)

the committee wrote to the Treasurer (Mr Swan) on 9 December 2008 requesting that Dr Fisher, be given ‘full access to the government’s complete documentation of the government’s models together with the model codes and databases and any other model simulations undertaken relevant to the policy scenarios, but not publicly released’ by 17 December 2008,

(iii)

the Treasurer has refused the committee’s request, and

(iv)

Dr Fisher has reported that he was impeded in carrying out the work requested by the committee because the information requested from the Treasurer was not made available to him; and

(b)

orders that there be laid on the table by the Minister representing the Treasurer, no later than noon on 5 February 2009, the following information relating to the Department of the Treasury modelling, Australia’s low pollution future: The economics of climate change mitigation:

(i)

the model documentation and codes together with all databases for both the global trade and environment model and the Monash multi-regional forecasting model that were employed in the department’s modelling of the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme scenarios in a form that would allow the reproduction of the department’s results, and

(ii)

any other model simulations undertaken relevant to the abovementioned policy scenarios but not publicly released.

Question agreed to.

Christine Milne (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—The Australian Greens support the release of the Treasury modelling pertaining to Australia’s Low Pollution Future: The economics of climate change mitigation. We have sought the release of that modelling because we too would like to scrutinise it. That is why we supported this motion. However, I want it also on the record that we have no confidence whatsoever in Dr Brian Fisher from Concept Economics to conduct any kind of fair analysis of the Treasury modelling. Dr Fisher is a climate change sceptic, has been a climate change sceptic, remains a climate change sceptic and was a climate change sceptic as head of ABARE. In my view, he is one significant reason no progress was made on addressing climate change in the years that the Howard government was in power. Whilst we support the laying on the table of the Treasury modelling, we wish to indicate that that decision to support this does not imply any support for any analysis that Dr Fisher may conduct.