Martin Ferguson (Batman, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Resources and Energy) Share this | Hansard source

They understand the importance of Australia making progress, of doing something about guaranteeing that our National Low Emissions Coal Council is able to accelerate the demonstration and deployment of these technological activities and of having in place a carbon storage task force which enables the development of storage, mapping and infrastructure plans in the immediate future. They also welcome the government’s achievement in the House of Representatives last week of potentially world-first legislation covering carbon dioxide storage in Australia’s offshore areas.

I simply say in conclusion that Australia and the broader community understand the challenges that confront us in the demand to reduce carbon emissions and also in the global community. I look forward to working with my state and territory counterparts, representatives of business, NGOs who are prepared to front up to hard decisions and the labour movement to make this a reality. This is about investing in our future and our economic prosperity while also assisting the world in guaranteeing high levels of economic growth while reducing carbon dioxide emissions.

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