Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change and Water) Share this | Hansard source

The issues relevant to the steel industry are obviously the design of the emissions-intensive trade-exposed program. The senator would be aware that that has been the subject of quite detailed discussion between the government and industry. The details of that program were identified first in the green paper, determined in the white paper and then added to after negotiations with industry in the Prime Minister’s 4 May announcement in which we said the architecture is that the most emissions-intensive industries will receive 90 per cent of their permits for free. The next level of emissions-intensive trade-exposed industries will receive 60 per cent of their permits for free. On 4 May we added to that assistance, such that the most emissions-intensive trade-exposed industries will receive 94.5 per cent, and the next level will receive 66.

With the steel industry, as with all other emissions-intensive trade-exposed sectors, we are going through a process of detailed discussion about the technical definition of what constitutes the activity. My recollection, and I stand to be corrected, Senator, is that the government has released some 23 activity definitions. That is far more at this stage of the debate than those opposite ever put out in the context of the GST or the Work Choices legislation. Just to underscore, technical details that required detailed information from industry were put out before this bill went through the Senate. That was not the case when you were in government. (Time expired)