Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Finance and Deregulation) Share this | Hansard source

I will certainly see if there is anything further I can provide. I think we have had a discussion before about a coal tax in India, which I think is roughly one dollar per tonne, which is then used to fund renewable and clean energy investment. I think it is very important—and I am sure the senator would not be intending to do this—that we do not make a suggestion that somehow every single mine in Australia is a gassy coal mine. The reality is that most coal mining in Australia is not emissions intensive. There are a small number of gassy underground mines with high fugitive emissions. That is why the government has provided the $1.3 billion. But it would be wrong to suggest that the entirety of the coal industry in this country is made up of gassy underground mines with high liabilities as a result of fugitive emissions. I think that is demonstrated by the market. You could hardly suggest that investment in coal and in the resources sector has tailed off since the government has been pressing forward with its carbon package. That is simply not borne out by the facts. The market is quite clear about its investment pipeline.