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Wednesday, 15 June 2011
Page: 2870

Senator CROSSIN (Northern Territory) (15:09): I rise in response to opposition's motion to take note this afternoon in relation to the issue of carbon pricing and our position on climate change. I welcome some major and very distinguished people in Australia taking out full-page ads in papers around the country today calling on those opposite, the climate sceptics, to acknowledge that taking action on climate change is an imperative.

Senator Bernardi interjecting—

Senator CROSSIN: We continue to have the battles with the deniers and the sceptics, Senator Bernardi, sitting opposite us, who pretend that they do not need to do anything and that nothing has happened.

This government is committed to reducing Australia's greenhouse gas emissions as part of global action. There have been comments made about that over a number of weeks and months. Yesterday, the Prime Minister released some fact sheets to show that Australia is not alone here, that plenty of countries have policies and initiatives to take action on climate change. We have determined that the best way to achieve this is through putting a price on carbon, a price that will allow businesses to make decisions on how to best manage their emissions, including through investments in low-emission technologies, while meeting Australia's energy security needs.

The equation is very simple. A price on carbon will encourage large polluters and business to change the way they operate and to reduce their high-emission technologies. I note that the business sector more broadly remains supportive of a carbon price to reduce long-term investment uncertainty. So we do have businesses that are starting to get on board and want to be part of this debate, this discussion, this negotiation.

We recognise that the coal industry is a vital part of our economy. The vast majority of Australia's coal-mining industry is not emissions intensive and will not face materially increased costs under a carbon price. However, there are a small number of gassy underground mines that have high fugitive methane emissions, and they will face increased costs. They know that and we know that. That is why we are consulting closely with the Multi-Party Climate Change Committee on assistance measures for these coal-mining operations, including nego­tiating with them to come up with a way to deal with this. We remain committed to assuring the competitiveness of our mining sector through all of these negotiations.

I turn to the issues that Senator Bushby raised in terms of the ACIL Tasman report on coal-mining jobs. Certainly under a carbon price we expect to see strong growth in the economy, in jobs and in average incomes. We expect that that growth will be particularly strong in the resources sector. The latest capex numbers show that busin­esses are confidently investing in growing their operations. Based on ABARE's estimates, the total investment pipeline for coal alone was over $72 billion as at April 2011. The pipeline of investment for the broader resources sector reached a remarkable $430 billion in April. So many of our largest resources companies have made it clear that they support a price on carbon. Companies like Santos, Shell, BP, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton support a price on carbon. They are on board. It is a shame the people opposite are not. Those companies know that we need to reduce contribute pollution and want to be part of that solution and part of that dialogue. Putting a price on carbon is the cheapest and most effective way to do this, so many of these big investors have already built a carbon price into their investment plans. So what do we have before us? A bright future for sectors like coal and LNG. It is true that the carbon price will affect some operators, but we are working with industry on an assistance package that will manage that.