CARBON CREDITS (CARBON FARMING INITIATIVE) BILL 2011E CARBON CREDITS (CONSEQUENTIAL AMENDMENTS) BILL 2011E AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL REGISTRY OF EMISSIONS UNITS BILL 2011

Order of the day read for the further consideration of the bills in committee of the whole.

In the committee

CARBON CREDITS (CARBON FARMING INITIATIVE) BILL 2011—

Consideration resumed of the bill, as amended—and of the amendments moved by Senator Xenophon, also on behalf of Senator Birmingham:

 Clause 5, page 12 (after line 9), after the definition of general law land, insert:

   Greenhouse Friendly Initiative means the Greenhouse Friendly Initiative for the reduction of greenhouse gases established by the Commonwealth and administered by the Department administered by the Minister administering this Act.

 Clause 5, page 17 (after line 9), after the definition of net total number, insert:

   New South Wales Greenhouse Gas Scheme means the greenhouse gas reduction scheme established by Part 8A of the Electricity Supply Act 1995 (NSW) .

 Clause 5, page 18 (lines 23 and 24), omit the definition of prescribed non-CFI offsets scheme, substitute:

   prescribed non-CFI offsets scheme means:

 (a) the New South Wales Greenhouse Gas Scheme; or

 (b) the Greenhouse Friendly Initiative; or

 (c) a scheme prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this paragraph.

 Clause 95, page 124 (lines 11 to 19), omit subclause (2), substitute:

  (2) As soon as practicable after making the declaration, the Administrator must consider the request and may, by written notice given to the person who made the request, determine that this Act has effect, in relation to the project, as if:

 (a) if the project is a sequestration project:

 (i) paragraphs 89(1)(b), 90(1)(b) and 91(1)(b) had not been enacted; and

 (ii) the net total number of Australian carbon credit units mentioned in subsections 89(3), 90(3) and 91(3) were increased by the number specified in the determination; and

 (b) if the project is a landfill legacy emissions avoidance offsets project that was accredited under the New South Wales Greenhouse Gas Scheme—the baseline for the purpose of making a methodology determination under section 106 is 20%; and

 (c) if the project is a landfill legacy emissions avoidance offsets project that was accredited under the Greenhouse Friendly Initiative—the baseline for the purpose of making a methodology determination under section 106 is 0%.

Debate resumed.

Senator Birmingham, by leave, withdrew the amendments.

Consideration resumed of the following amendments moved by Senator Xenophon and postponed on 16 August 2011:

 No. 1—Clause 56, page 81 (line 19), after "Act", insert "and subject to subsection (1A)".

 No. 2—Clause 56, page 81 (after line 21), after subclause (1), insert:

  (1A) Notwithstanding subsection (1), if a project:

 (a) was established as, or as part of, a managed investment scheme; or

 (b) is determined by the Minister, on the advice of the Domestic Offsets Integrity Committee, to have an adverse impact on:

 (i) the availability of water; or

 (ii) land and resource access for agricultural production;

   the project is deemed to be an excluded offsets project.

  (1B) A determination under paragraph (1A)(b) is a disallowable instrument for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.

  (1C) In this section:

   managed investment scheme has the same meaning as in section 9 of the Corporations Act 2001 .

Debate resumed.

Question—That the amendments be agreed to—put.

A division was called for.

Pursuant to the order of the Senate of 22 November 2010 consideration of the matter was postponed.

Senator Xenophon moved the following amendments together by leave:

 Clause 76, page 101 (line 11), omit "5 years", substitute "3 years".

 Clause 76, page 101 (line 24), omit "5 years", substitute "3 years".

Debate ensued.

Question—That the amendments be agreed to—put and negatived.

On the motion of Senator Xenophon the following amendment was debated and agreed to:

 Clause 112, page 146 (after line 8), after subclause (14), insert:

  (14A) Within 28 days of giving a notice under subsection (14), the Domestic Offsets Integrity Committee must publish on its website the reasons for the endorsement of the proposal or the refusal to endorse the proposal, as the case may be.

Senator Xenophon moved the following amendments together by leave:

 No. 3—Clause 255, page 271 (after line 16), after paragraph (c), insert:

 (ca) to monitor scientific research relevant to the issue of permanence and to advise the Minister about best evidence in relation to permanence;

 No. 4—Clause 255, page 271 (line 7), before "The", insert "(1)".

 No. 5—Clause 255, page 271 (after line 18), at the end of the clause, add:

  (2) If the Domestic Offsets Integrity Committee gives advice to the Minister under paragraph (1)(ca) about best evidence in relation to permanence, the Minister must, within 28 days after receiving the advice, cause a copy of the advice to be published on the Department's website.

Debate ensued.

Question—That the amendments be agreed to—put.

A division was called for.

Pursuant to the order of the Senate of 22 November 2010 consideration of the matter was postponed.

Senator Xenophon moved the following amendment:

 No. 6—Clause 306, page 303 (after line 6), after subclause (1), insert:

  (1A) Any review under subsection (1) must be conducted by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation in conjunction with the Productivity Commission.

  (1B) The Minister must ensure that the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation and the Productivity Commission are provided with sufficient additional resources to conduct any such review.

Debate ensued.

Question—That the amendment be agreed to—put.

A division was called for.

Pursuant to the order of the Senate of 22 November 2010 consideration of the matter was postponed.

CARBON CREDITS (CONSEQUENTIAL AMENDMENTS) BILL 2011

AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL REGISTRY OF EMISSIONS UNITS BILL 2011—

Bills taken together and as a whole by leave.

On the motion of the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (Senator Ludwig) the following amendments in respect of the Australian National Registry of Emissions Units Bill 2011, taken together by leave, were debated and agreed to:

 Clause 66, page 56 (lines 20 and 21), omit "Australian carbon credit", substitute "non-Kyoto international emissions".

 Clause 82, page 63 (table item 2), after "section", insert "36 or".

The Carbon Credits (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2011 and the Australian National Registry of Emissions Units Bill 2011, as amended, agreed to.

CARBON CREDITS (CARBON FARMING INITIATIVE) BILL 2011—

Consideration resumed of the bill, as amended—and of the questions postponed earlier today.

Question—That amendments nos 1 and 2 moved by Senator Xenophon be agreed to—put.

The committee divided—

AYES, 30

Senators—

Abetz

Adams (Teller)

Birmingham

Boswell

Boyce

Bushby

Cash

Colbeck

Cormann

Edwards

Eggleston

Fawcett

Fierravanti-Wells

Fifield

Fisher

Heffernan

Humphries

Johnston

Joyce

Kroger

Macdonald

Mason

McKenzie

Nash

Parry

Payne

Ronaldson

Ryan

Scullion

Xenophon

NOES, 35

Senators—

Arbib

Bilyk

Bishop

Brown, Bob

Brown, Carol

Cameron

Collins

Conroy

Crossin

Di Natale

Farrell

Faulkner

Feeney

Furner

Gallacher

Hanson-Young

Hogg

Ludlam

Ludwig

Lundy

Marshall

McEwen (Teller)

Moore

Polley

Pratt

Rhiannon

Sherry

Siewert

Singh

Stephens

Sterle

Thistlethwaite

Urquhart

Waters

Wright

Question negatived.

Senator Xenophon moved the following amendment:

 Clause 56, page 81 (line 28), omit paragraph (2)(a).

Question—That the amendment be agreed to—put.

The committee divided—

Question negatived.

Question—That amendments nos 3, 4 and 5 moved by Senator Xenophon be agreed to—put.

The committee divided—

Question negatived.

Question—That amendment no. 6 moved by Senator Xenophon be agreed to—put.

The committee divided—

Question negatived.

Question—That the bill, as amended, be agreed to—put.

The committee divided—

Question agreed to.

The Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative) Bill 2011 and the Australian National Registry of Emissions Units Bill 2011 to be reported with amendments and the Carbon Credits (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2011 to be reported without amendments.

The President resumed the chair and the Chair of Committees (Senator Parry) reported accordingly.

On the motion of Senator Ludwig the report from the committee was adopted.

Senator Ludwig moved—That these bills be now read a third time.

Debate ensued.

At 2 pm: Debate was interrupted while Senator Colbeck was speaking.