Jason Wood (La Trobe, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is addressed to the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources. Would the minister update the House on how the Australian government is working with industry and the community to manage climate change?

Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for his question and note his deep commitment to environmental matters, particularly in his electorate. The Australian government is working closely with industry and with the community on practical programs that will ensure that Australia continues to lead in its climate change strategy.

The Australian Greenhouse Office is the oldest institution of its kind in the world. One of its key programs is the Greenhouse Friendly program, which encourages companies to invest in greenhouse emission reduction projects and provides businesses with the opportunity to offer carbon neutral products. Indeed, as part of the $31.6 million Greenhouse Challenge Plus program, over 750 members, all Australian businesses, are projected to achieve 15 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emission reductions by 2010. That is a reduction of about three per cent of our total greenhouse gas emissions from that one effort alone. In the last month, we have seen three very innovative programs which have had the close involvement of Greenhouse Friendly. The first was from V8 Supercars, which are going to offset all of the emissions from their races this year through carbon offsets from planting trees. They are working very closely with the Greenhouse Office to accredit their whole operation—not just the emissions from the cars but the whole operation—as a Greenhouse Friendly project.

Then a week or so ago Virgin Blue announced that it was going to be the first Australian airline to offer carbon neutral flights. Customers will be able to tick a box, pay a little more for each flight and, by buying a carbon offset—which will be certified by the Greenhouse Friendly program—offset the carbon emissions from their flights. Then today I announced that CO Australia, an Australian forestry company, will be the first forest carbon sink abatement project to be accredited by the Greenhouse Friendly program. Businesses will be able to invest in CO Australia’s tree planting to offset their greenhouse gas emissions. These are practical measures. We are working with Australian business. This is indicative—typical—of the approach of this government, which is ensuring that Australia will be one of the very few developed countries that is able to meet its Kyoto target without buying in hot air credits from Eastern Europe or clean development mechanism credits from other parts of the world. We will do it through our own efforts.

That stands in stark contrast to the attitude of the Labor Party. The member for Kingsford Smith earlier this year famously said, ‘The automatic expansion of the coal industry, such as we have seen in the past, is a thing of the past.’ A few years before that—he has been quite consistent in this area—he said to the National Press Club, ‘Our reliance on coal for energy and exports puts the Australian economy at risk.’ Think of that: our reliance on coal for energy and exports—it is only our biggest export!—puts the Australian economy at risk. So our economy is put at risk by our best export—that is the view of the opposition; that is what the Labor Party has in mind for the coal industry of Australia and for the jobs of Australians. So outrageous were the member for Kingsford Smith’s statements that even the New South Wales Premier, Mr Iemma, had to abandon him, reminding him that in our fight to save the planet we have to be sure that we do not destroy our country.

The Australian government is committed, and has been committed for many years, to dealing with the challenge of climate change. We are dealing with it with practical, workable measures that have results. We are dealing with it with substance, not symbols; practical measures, not ideology; protecting jobs, not sacrificing them for a political agenda.