Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for the Murray Darling Basin) Share this | Hansard source

I appreciate the sentiments that Senator Milne is expressing. As I said in relation to the first amendment—perhaps when it was more appropriate for this one and a later government one—the coalition is eager to see some certainty for future price in relation to the LRET, particularly taking into account the number of credits that are currently proposed within the scheme.

However, we do note that the government has proposed amendments, which are to be considered later, dealing with a mechanism to try to clear some of the banked credits. We can only take the government’s modelling and advice at its word. I look forward to hearing Senator Wong respond to Senator Milne’s specific questions around that. However, the opposition is not inclined to support this amendment of the Greens, noting that the government has proposals for different mechanisms to address, at least in part, the issue that is being raised.