Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance and Administration) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Joyce, it goes back to a couple of the points that we have discussed already. It relates to where the blends might go, what might happen pending this decision and on the future of the industry. It depends on what you also acknowledge is a range of estimates of projected industry production. In that respect, it is very difficult to put some numbers on it. But I go back to the original premise that I put to you previously, that this is about applying tax law to a good policy framework. It is about closing a loophole that created an unintended consequence when taxation started to apply to biodiesel, so that there is an even treatment of these products across the board. It is not about creating a tax saving or a measure in some form, although I am advised that—on Treasury calculations of one billion litres, based on the figures that were given to the inquiry—the cost to the forward estimates out to 2015 would be something of the order of $1.2 billion.