Kerry O'Brien (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to incorporate speeches by Senators Lundy and Wortley.

Leave granted.

Kate Lundy (ACT, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The incorporated speech read as follows—

I rise to speak today on the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Amendment Bill 2008. This reporting system will collect robust and comparable data across the Australian economy that will underpin the emissions trading scheme and provide better information to the public.

Climate change is one of the most serious environmental challenges facing Australia, and indeed the world, today. We know that climate change is having real effects. For instance the top 11 hottest years on record have been in the last 13 years, and of real concern to many Australians is that there will be increasing extreme weather patterns. The CSIRO and Bureau of Meteorology have predicted that we will experience 20 per cent more drought months over most of Australia over the next 20 years, and 40 per cent by 2070. The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics have also predicted that that if we don’t act now on climate change, exports of key commodities will fall by up to 63 per cent in the next 20 years. That is why we need to act now because we can’t afford to waste anymore time – this country has wasted enough time already.

These facts make Dr Nelson’s statements on Lateline last night all the more disturbing. He claimed there was no link between climate change and lower rainfall. In defiance of the science, it is astounding that the opposition is still in denial.

In a survey to all Canberra residents that I conducted last year, climate change was one of the top 3 issues that Canberrans identified as most concerning them. Unlike the previous Government, this Government has a comprehensive plan to combat climate change including:

• Implementing a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme to reduce Australia’s carbon pollution at the lowest possible cost to families and business
• Setting a target of 60% cuts to the 2000 carbon emissions levels by 2050.
• Setting a medium-term target for emissions reductions by the end of 2008
• Expanding the renewable energy target, so that by 2020, 20% of Australia’s energy comes from renewable sources.
• Driving a clean energy revolution with policies such as the establishment of a $500 million Renewable Energy Fund, a $150 million Energy Innovation Fund and, of course, the $500 million National Clean Coal Initiative.
• Helping Australian families green their homes with policies such as green loans, a one-stop green shop and rebates for energy efficient rental homes
• Investing in cleaner transport through measures such as the Green Car Challenge and the $500 million Green Car Innovation Fund, and finally,
• Implementing a Climate Change Adaptation Plan for Australia’s World Heritage and iconic areas

The Australian Labor Government is also taking a lead on the world stage and is helping to shape a global solution. As the first act of the Rudd Government, we put Australia back on the world environmental map by ratifying the Kyoto Protocol.

Added to this, we will continue to play an active role in global negotiations for a new global agreement on tackling climate change

On a local level, I know here in the ACT many households are working hard to reduce their carbon footprint by changing to energy efficient light bulbs, recycling, reducing their energy use and choosing more environmentally sustainable transport options, like public transport and cycling.

Many households are also contributing to climate change solutions by choosing to install their own solar panels or buying GreenPower – in fact 10,200 ACT residents purchased Green Power in the 12 months to the end of March 2008.

The ACT Labor Government has also taken the environmental initiative and introduced numerous measures to make Canberra a greener city including:

• The Electricity Feed-in (Renewable Energy Premium) Bill 2008, introduced by Mick Gentleman MLA, and passed by the Legislative Assembly in July 2008. The Feed-in tariff will provide Australia’s most generous rate to households returning electricity to the grid from renewable sources.
• Amending the Utilities Act to ensure that all new electricity customers will be offered GreenPower on sign up to their new account. GreenPower works by customers paying a premium to have the equivalent of all or part of their electricity usage sourced from accredited renewable energy sources. This is the first of any such scheme in Australia.
• And, the ACT is the first State or Territory in Australia to charge stamp duty based on the environmental performance of new vehicles. The Green Vehicles Duty Scheme is a significant step towards reducing transport emissions in the ACT, which accounts for 25 per cent of ACT emissions.

These are important contributions that are being made by ACT households and the ACT Labor Government – but we all must take responsibility for if we are going to have a sustainable future.

Corporations within Australia want and need to be able to play their part in the effort to reduce our greenhouse emissions as well. This bill will provide a framework for corporations to better understand their greenhouse gas emissions and their energy use. It is critical that corporations are accountable for and understand their carbon footprint, and that is what this amendment seeks to do.

This bill makes a number of enhancements to the administration of the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting ACT 2007.

Firstly, this bill enhances public disclosure requirements, by expanding the number of items which can be published about a corporations actual greenhouse gas emissions and energy use – such as disclosing information about how they calculate their emissions.

The bill also provides some clarifications about what can be publicly disclosed.

We know everyone needs to do their bit to tackle climate changes, that’s why the data will be available to state and territory governments and to the Australian public to inform effective climate change action at all levels in Australia.

This will also provide the Government with an even better understanding of corporate greenhouse gas emissions and energy use.

The bill will allow the Minister to specify conditions for measuring gas emissions and energy use, including a ratings system for such methods. This will ensure consistent information is given by corporations to the public while not imposing additional regulatory burdens on industry.

A national reporting system is good news for business as it will cut duplication and reduce the cost burden currently imposed by the patchwork of separate state, territory and national reporting schemes. Leading Australian businesses are already measuring, managing and reporting greenhouse gas emissions information publicly, and to governments.

It’s also good news for the public as this system will provide information to the public on the greenhouse and energy performance of large Australian companies.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, the Federal Labor Government has consulted extensively with all levels of government, business and the public on the development of these Regulations. The Government will also continue to take steps to ensure all corporations understand whether they need to report, what they need to report, how and by when.

If Australia is to effectively address the significant challenges of climate change, we need robust and comparable data to inform our policy responses and that is what this bill is aiming to achieve.

Dana Wortley (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The incorporated speech read as follows—

I rise in support of the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Amendment Bill 2008.

The Australian Government is committed to reducing greenhouse emissions and robust, accurate and reliable data is essential to achieving this goal in the most efficient and effective way possible.

The spirit of this bill reflects the spirit of this Government – one of accountability and commitment regarding the considerable challenge of climate change.

This bill also reflects our spirit of openness and transparency.

It is designed to remove red tape and duplication and improve clarity in the reporting of corporate energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.

It will also reduce the number of reports that businesses are required to submit under the current patchwork of greenhouse and energy programs across Australia.

The bill also will ultimately give the public better access to information on corporate energy use and greenhouse gas emissions, by expanding the range of information which can be published by the government.

Therefore, this bill will result in a more accurate and open national greenhouse and energy reporting system.

It will achieve this by streamlining the administration of the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act 2007 through various minor amendments.

These amendments will not have a budgetary impact and do not increase the load on industry – in fact, they are designed to simplify the regulatory burden and improve flexibility when it comes to the registration of corporations under the Act.

Corporations exceeding set thresholds are required to register under the system. They are required also to supply their energy and emissions data.

Under the changes proposed by this bill, a corporation that reasonably expects it will in future, meet an energy or emissions threshold listed in the Act, can apply for registration ahead of meeting the threshold.

While flexibility is a feature of the bill’s changes, it will not prove a soft touch regarding the disclosure of information on corporate emissions, energy use and production.

It will make sure investors and the public can access information on both direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions of a corporation – otherwise known as scope 1 and scope 2 emissions – rather than just a single total.

This change has been added as a result of public consultation, and makes clear whether a company’s emissions are mainly direct or indirect.

As well as their emissions profile being disclosed, corporations will be able to reveal publicly the methods used to measure their emissions – and the accuracy rating of these methods.

This will remove any questions over the reliability of the data released.

Further insurance comes in the form of a new requirement that external audits not only cover a corporation itself, but also extend to members of its group.

After all, the accuracy of this data gathered by the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting System is crucial, as it will facilitate future policymaking on energy and greenhouse issues.

However, the transparency of reporting under the present system isn’t the only aspect addressed in this bill.

Duplication of reporting is a significant consideration.

Currently the states, territories and the Commonwealth each have greenhouse gas and energy programs with corporate reporting requirements, meaning there is doubling up.

Therefore, a goal of the new system will be to eradicate this duplication by centrally storing data which may serve the needs of governments across Australia – and the Government will work with the states and territories through COAG to achieve this.

With the passing of this bill, the system also will be a foundation for the introduction of an emissions-trading scheme and will help Australia meet its international reporting responsibilities.

In a nutshell, this bill aims to simplify, clarify and make more effective the administration of Australia’s greenhouse gas and energy reporting system.

Therefore I commend it to the Senate.

Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to thank all of those who have contributed to the second reading debate on the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Amendment Bill 2008. The National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act establishes a framework for the collection of high-quality greenhouse and energy data. This data will be used to inform government policy, meet Australia’s international reporting obligations and allow for the elimination of duplicated greenhouse gas and energy reporting requirements in government programs. The act will also provide data which will be used in the development of the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme. This bill will enhance the act by allowing the public and investors to access more information on the greenhouse gas emissions and energy performance of Australian corporations. This bill will also improve administration of the act, simplify the registration process for Australian corporations and clarify details relating to auditing of corporations’ reports. The act facilitates reduction in the number of reports that businesses are required to submit under the current patchwork of greenhouse and energy programs across jurisdictions.

This bill confirms the government’s commitment to ensuring the system is implemented efficiently and effectively to reduce the regulatory burden on Australian corporations. As I said at the beginning, I thank the senators in the debate on the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Amendment Bill 2008 and I commend the bill to the Senate.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.