George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

I welcome the opportunity—at last!—to speak on the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures) Bill 2010 and on the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Safety Levies) Amendment Bill 2010, which cover an industry which is of great significance not only to the Australian economy but also to Australian energy security.

The bills amend the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006 to implement policy and technical amendments. The act was last amended in 2009. The Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Safety Levies) Amendment Bill 2010 amends the 2003 act to provide transitional arrangements in relation to the phasing out of the pipeline safety management plan levy. The Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures) Bill 2010 amends the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006. I should have done that in reverse. This is a relatively small bill, making a number of minor policy and technical amendments.

In 2008, the coalition supported the Offshore Petroleum Amendment (Greenhouse Gas Storage) Bill 2008, which amended the Offshore Petroleum Act 2006 to establish a system of offshore titles to authorise transportation, injection and storage of greenhouse gas substances, principally carbon dioxide, into deep geological formations under the seabed. Of course, there has been a great deal of talk and not much action, in relation to geosequestration, from those on the other side, although I did note with interest the announcement of the minister two weeks ago, where a significant amount of money was awarded to various projects in relation to carbon capture and storage. Interestingly, though, most of that money went overseas. It is of some interest to me that the Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute, established with such fanfare by the previous Prime Minister, has really received no international support of any great moment. In fact, only one country out of the many said to be involved in that institute has actually put any money up. At last count, the Americans, who offered $500,000, did so a few days before they received $6½ million for a project in Texas.

Serious questions are now being asked about the economic viability of carbon capture and storage. The missing link in all of this, apart from the government’s continued talk and insufficient action, is that the coal industry is going to have to put real dollars on the table. They will not be surprised by that message. If carbon capture and storage is to be economically viable, the coal industry is going to have to invest substantial sums of money in it. I am not talking about hundreds of millions of dollars; I am talking about several billions of dollars. Without that support and without commitment from other countries, the concept being championed by the Minister for Resources and Energy will simply go nowhere, along with the myriad other policies that have been announced during the Labor Party’s time in government that have gone nowhere.

The coalition does support in principle the establishment of a national offshore petroleum regulator, but it must be a national, not a federal, regulator—that is, it must have representatives from those states which are involved in the regulation of offshore petroleum along with the Commonwealth government. It needs to be a partnership—a partnership where we all share responsibility and also share the aim of making sure that the regulator operates in a way which will produce the optimum outcome. We need to ensure that all states agree with the establishment and operation of the national offshore petroleum regulator.

That is achievable but, along with its inability to deliver, this government continually fails in the area of consultation. We have seen a classic example of that recently with the discussion paper—I think it was perhaps a ‘guide to a discussion paper’; it seems to be of less importance everyday—on water management. The Gillard government has the same bad trait that the Rudd government had, and that is that it fails to consult. We need to have consultation in the case of the national offshore petroleum regulator. It is an issue that needs to be finalised, but it will not be finalised unless this government consults with all concerned, particularly, with the Western Australian government.

Unfortunately, there is much work to be done if the government is to meet its responsibilities to the oil and gas sector. It is particularly frustrating that the government has again delayed the release of its energy white paper, which obviously impacts on the oil and gas industry and a whole range of energy resources, not the least of which is electricity. While this legislation today is important to the oil and gas industry, it does, nevertheless, highlight the piecemeal approach to energy policy in Australia. The most recent delaying tactic occurred earlier this month when the government fobbed off once again the release of the energy white paper with another excuse, this time attempting to pass off an energy efficiency report as a temporary stand-in for the energy white paper. The report is not an energy white paper and does not fill the void created by three years of inaction in this area by the Rudd, and now Gillard, governments.

Households and businesses across Australia are focused on the rapidly escalating price of electricity. The federal government has comprehensively failed to provide leadership for the energy sector right across the board—electricity, oil, gas and coal—by dodging its responsibilities to provide the energy policy framework that would be contained in an energy white paper. There have been myriad excuses. First, there were the problems with the ETS. Now the Gillard government is trying to inflict more delays on the sector while its climate change panel deliberates for another year about a potential carbon tax.

The last energy white paper was delivered by the Howard government in 2004. In keeping with the regular five-year cycle, an updated version is now well and truly overdue. There have been enough excuses, enough delays and enough drip-feeds. It is time for the Gillard government to release a comprehensive energy white paper that will address the full range of issues affecting the energy sector.

Nevertheless, the coalition welcomes the changes to the legislation before the Senate today and supports the bills. The government must accept and address that its day of reckoning on energy matters is fast approaching. Every day it leaves the energy and resources sector without a clear framework is another day that investment decisions must be made in a policy vacuum and another day in which no solution is offered to limit the rapidly increasing electricity price rises being felt across Australia. The energy sector is so significant not only because of the price that the community pays for electricity but also because it is the basis of our economic development. There are a number of senators who are watching development in the onshore petroleum industry, particularly the coal seam industry, with great expectation, waiting for some definitive policies in relation to energy, from this government. While we as an opposition provide our constructive support where we can—as we do on these bills—we need to see some action if this country is to have the confidence to make investments that will see not only the exploration of oil and gas continue but also the development of onshore industries and, most importantly, the continued development of clean baseload electricity generation in Australia. With those remarks, I commend the bills to the Senate.