Senator Brown asked the Minister representing the Minister for Science, upon notice, on 14 January 2003:

With reference to energy policy and greenhouse gas emissions:

(1) Does the department have copies of any reports or documents produced by Roam Consulting in the past 5 calendar years; if so, in each case: (a) for whom was the report or document prepared; (b) what is the full title and date of the report or document; (c) what was the brief; (d) what were the main findings; and (e) can a copy of the report or document be provided.

(2) Have any documents prepared by the department or its agencies, including by the Chief Scientist, used information supplied by Roam Consulting; if so, in each case; (a) what was the full title and date of the document from which the information was used; and (b) what other data supported any conclusions drawn.

Senator Alston (Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts) —The Minister for Science has provided the following answer to the honourable senator's question:

(1) The Department has some working documents of the independent Working Group which operated in 2002 to produce a report for the Prime Minister's Science, Engineering and Innovation Council on `Beyond Kyoto: Innovation and Adaptation'. The documents include an undated work-in-progress working paper containing a preliminary example of modelling based on unpublished data provided to Rio Tinto Technology by Roam Consulting.

(a) This working paper was prepared for Rio Tinto Technology.

(b) The working paper has no title and is undated.

(c) A member of the independent Working Group presented the working paper to the group for discussion purposes only.

(d) The findings of the working paper were considered by the Working Group and are reflected in the `Beyond Kyoto: Innovation and Adaptation' report to the Prime Minister's Science, Engineering and Innovation Council.

(e) Rio Tinto Technology has informed the Department that the information in the working paper was provided as work-in-progress to the PMSEIC Working Group for discussion purposes only. Under these circumstances, it would not be appropriate to provide a copy of the document.

(2) The `Beyond Kyoto: Innovation and Adaptation' report of the independent Working Group of the Prime Minister's Science, Engineering and Innovation Council, incorporated the results of the modelling into the report.

(a) The Working Group's report `Beyond Kyoto: Innovation and Adaptation' and associated presentation were provided to the Prime Minister's Science, Engineering and Innovation Council on 5 December 2002. The report and presentation may be found at www.dest.gov.au/science/pmseic.

(b) The Working Group's report and presentation refer to the various data sources used to support its conclusions.

The Australian National University is also listed under Administrative Orders as a responsibility of the Minister's portfolio for the period in question. The Australian National University has not been approached in preparing a response to the question because it operates with a greater degree of autonomy than other Departmental agencies.