Page 817 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 2 May 2007
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I am pleased with the progress that we have made and that heads of government around Australia at state and territory level have made in addressing some of the vacuum that has been created as a result of the refusal of the Howard government to implement or embrace the Kyoto Protocol principles. Unlike the federal government, state and territory governments have recognised the importance of addressing climate change and are in the process of developing a national emissions trading scheme which at this stage, it has been accepted by all states and territories, should come into effect in 2010. I believe the national emissions trading scheme proposal that has been developed is, to date, the most effective policy response that could be made in Australia and ensures a flexible way of achieving greenhouse gas abatement in the transition to what we all acknowledge needs to be a carbon constrained future.
A carefully designed national emissions trading scheme could provide a mechanism for the Australian economy to transition more smoothly to that future and to link Australia to international carbon markets. The European Union has recently established its own emissions trading scheme, and other regions and nations are actively considering emissions trading approaches.
Creating a market for greenhouse gas emissions and emissions reductions has the potential to provide flexible and low-cost abatement options while accelerating the adoption of existing and new technologies. The state and territory governments established the National Emissions Trading Taskforce to develop a multijurisdictional emissions trading scheme for consideration by state and territory Labor governments.
In passing, I note and acknowledge the new policy enunciated by the Labor Party in relation to climate change. I think all Australians accept—and Mr Howard is now in something of a panic—that the federal Liberal government has sat on its hands and it has been the Labor governments that have committed to a serious attempt to cut emissions, indeed by 60 per cent by the year 2050. That is a target that has now been accepted by all Australian state and territory governments. We look forward to seeing how, through measures such as carbon trading and increasing investment in innovative green technologies, the economy will be strengthened.
We are now seeing signs of the Prime Minister’s desperation. He knows he has been caught short and that he has not engaged with climate change. He has remained one of the world’s last sceptics or deniers of climate change. He has refused to accept it as a reality and continues to parrot his greater concern for the economy. The damage that will be caused to the economy through climate change really has not been part of the equation that he has taken into account in developing a national response to climate change in Australia. Creating a market for greenhouse gas emissions and emissions reduction has the potential to provide very flexible and low-cost abatement options, while accelerating the adoption of existing and new technologies. The state and territory governments have established a task force to do just that.
It has to be acknowledged that the ACT, as a small jurisdiction with a relatively small population, is a similarly small contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions. We Canberrans create about one per cent of Australia’s emissions and Australia contributes about one per cent of global emissions. We all need to do what we can, and there is an important need for governments to show leadership. This is a national
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