Senator MASON (2:42 PM) —My question is to the Minister for the Environment and Heritage, Senator Hill. The Howard government takes the issues of global warming and greenhouse gas emissions very seriously. Would the minister please inform the Senate of the steps that the Howard government is taking to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across Australia?

Senator HILL (Minister for the Environment and Heritage) —Honourable senators will know that the Howard government takes the issue of global warming particularly seriously and has now committed in excess of $1 billion towards funding a whole range of greenhouse gas emission programs. We have established the world's first dedicated greenhouse agency, the Australian Greenhouse Office. Along with the states and territories, we have committed to implement the national greenhouse strategy. Regional Australia can play a strong part in the development of renewable energy generation, planting of vegetation and sustainable land management. I particularly want to mention two aspects concerning regional Australia in answer to this question.

The first is that today we are announcing the government's latest program in this area, the Bush for Greenhouse program, with the appointment of a carbon broker. The contract has been won by a consortium of Ernst and Young, Greening Australia and Landcare Australia. The carbon broker will be responsible for securing investment, identifying a pool of revegetation projects, channelling investment into these projects, providing expertise and assistance in planting and managing the vegetation, and managing the pool of carbon resulting from the growth of the trees. The program will build on links between greenhouse action and delivering other positive environmental outcomes such as salinity, habitat conservation, and protecting water and soil quality. It is part of our comprehensive approach to tackling emissions from all sectors across Australia. It complements other initiatives that are occurring globally such as the World Bank establishing a prototype carbon bank. More countries and organisations around the world are building the capacity to seek investment in revegetation and channelling that investment through means of carbon brokers and carbon banks. Australia is up there among the leaders in this area.

The second announcement I want to make is in relation to the conference that Australia is hosting next week, the international conference on carbon sinks. As honourable senators will know, certain of the detail in relation to carbon sinks was unsettled at the conclusion of the Kyoto Protocol and that detail needs to be concluded at COP 6 later this year. The importance of that from the Australian perspective is that the protocol adopts both afforestation and reafforestation as worthwhile goals. In encouraging that afforestation again through the benefits associated with the protocol, we can get further revegetation in Australia. We are starting, in fact, to revegetate much of Australia that has been overcleared in the past, getting greenhouse benefits and also other environmental benefits such as I mentioned a moment ago. Through these two initiatives that we announced today, Australia is out there in front, leading with a greenhouse program that is now being watched and admired all around the globe. These are practical, sensible programs that can deliver win-win outcomes. They are good for the economy and good for the environment, and that is very much the hallmark of this government.