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

I move:

That the Senate:

(a)

recalls that:

(i)

the return to order motion that Senator Milne moved on 16 September 2009 seeking a map of Australian forest cover (using the Kyoto definition of forest) for each year since 1990, at the highest available resolution, in any widely used GIS format, to be tabled by 26 October 2009, was supported,

(ii)

the Government tabled a response which said ‘The Government is pursing this matter however we are currently unable to satisfy the timeline for the production of these documents owing to the inter-departmental consultations that the order has required’, and

(iii)

9 weeks later, on 18 November 2009, the Senate again supported the return to order motion and that the Government tabled on 19 November 2009 a response which stated that ‘The Government intends to provide the material requested. We have previously advised the Senate that we have been unable to satisfy the timeline for the production of these documents owing to the inter-departmental consultations that the order has required. These consultations have not yet concluded’;

(b)

notes that:

(i)

6 months has now passed since the first motion was supported, and

(ii)

the scrutiny of the forest cover maps is essential for confidence in the National Greenhouse Gas Inventory; and

(c)

calls on the Government to comply with the demand of the Senate and table the maps by 10 am on 18 March 2010.

Question agreed to.