Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

This amendment before the chamber does not relate in any way to our proposal for the Emissions Reduction Fund. As Senator Milne would be well aware, there is separate legislation that will deal with the Emissions Reduction Fund, and the chamber will have ample opportunity to debate the merits of that proposed measure when that legislation comes before the Senate. The amendment that is before us is an amendment that seeks to keep the carbon tax by slightly modifying it by slightly rebadging it. The government is already on the record as saying that we do not support the carbon tax being rebadged; that we are committed to scrapping the carbon tax.

In response to Senator Milne's final question in relation to emissions reduction targets, the government made a commitment to the Australian people at the last election and, indeed, at the election before that to reduce Australia's emissions by five per cent below 2000 levels by 2020. This is a target which is reflected in our international emissions reduction commitment under the Kyoto protocol. We will reach that target through the policies that we announced in the lead-up to the last election.