E&OE….
Topics: Carbon Farming Initiative
KIERAN GILBERT:
Live from Canberra I’m joined by the Environment Minister Greg Hunt. Mr Hunt, thanks for your time.
GREG HUNT:
Good morning Kieran.
KIERAN GILBERT:
So if the Bernie Fraser report comes back in 18 months. Is there any circumstance under which the Coalition Government would agree to looking at an Emissions Trading Scheme?
GREG HUNT:
Our policy is absolutely clear. We abolished the carbon tax, and whether you call it a carbon tax or an Emissions Trading Scheme, we’re not bringing it back.
We are committed to lower electricity and gas prices and we have done that. We have delivered on that.
There have been some reports that somehow this might open the door. They are wrong. Let me repeat – those reports are wrong.
Our approach is crystal clear – abolish the carbon tax to deliver lower electricity and gas prices for Australians and it will not be back in my time, in our time, in my belief in the next 20 years whilst the Coalition has any say in the matter.
And secondly, to introduce the Emissions Reduction Fund to purchase the lowest-cost practical way of reducing emissions by things such as improving our soils, improving our landscapes, energy efficiency on a large scale, working with Indigenous groups on savannah land management – things which actually reduce emissions in a practical way.
KIERAN GILBERT:
Isn’t that report then, that review to be done by the Climate Change Authority, a waste of money if you’re not going to look at it anyway?
GREG HUNT:
Well, we were not able to abolish the Climate Change Authority and so rather than having people sitting there empty handed, twiddling their thumbs, they might as well do work and it will inform people. But it’s part of agreement. It was a gesture of good faith in the negotiations.
But what matters here is – the abolition of the carbon tax which will stay abolished, whether we call it a carbon tax or an ETS, so long as we have any say, role or involvement. And secondly, the introduction of the Emissions Reduction Fund.
Two signature policies and signature achievements which we’d taken not just to one but to two elections, and that’s about reducing the cost of electricity and gas for Australians but do real things – working with communities, working with Indigenous groups, working on energy efficiency to achieve good local outcomes that actually reduce emissions without higher electricity prices.
And, the Labor Party will campaign for an Emissions Trading Scheme or a carbon tax at the next election. It doesn’t matter what you call it. They want higher electricity prices. We oppose that, and that is our position and that will remain our position.
KIERAN GILBERT:
Would the Government, though, listen to the Climate Change Authority when it comes to its recommendations for targets, for example, because it is going to be doing all this work. You’d assume the Government would then listen to the Authority when it comes to its suggestions for what our post-2020 target should be?
GREG HUNT:
Well, we’ll obviously read and respect a variety of different sources of information and this would be one of them. In terms of the question of a carbon tax or an ETS – abolished by us, not coming back by us. In terms of the approach on targets – we’re utterly committed to our five per cent reduction.
We have over-achieved whereas many other countries have not even achieved their goals during the first round of international targets and we will achieve our targets. So we take on board a variety of sources as we approach the end of 2015 negotiations.
KIERAN GILBERT:
You could be even more confident though of meeting those targets if you adopted the recommendation of Nick Xenophon. He believes that pure ideology will stop the Government from allowing companies to purchase cheap international permits.
And this is something that Senator Xenophon says it has been argued from both business groups and environmental groups alike. He’s right on that isn’t he?
GREG HUNT:
Look, our focus since the day the policy was announced on the 2nd February 2010 has been on domestic action to reduce our emissions. By implementing a tremendously constructive negotiating partner and has been successful in working with us on a series of improvements to the policy.
This is one where our policy has not changed since the Direct Action or Emissions Reduction Fund was announced almost five years ago. Our goal, our work is to cooperate with Indigenous land management groups, with farmers, with energy efficiency proponents, with firms that may be able to clean up their processes. We want to do practical things across the country in Australia…
KIERAN GILBERT:
Why not…
GREG HUNT:
So that’s been our primary focus and we haven’t changed on that so…
KIERAN GILBERT:
Well why don’t you do both though? As, Minister, you know, it’s something that not just Senator Xenophon has argued for but there’s a big community in the business community, the Australian Industry Group, among others, not your typical greenies saying you should do it.
GREG HUNT:
Look, in a negotiation it’s about ensuring we get an outcome that’s achievable for all parties, I have to be clear that the Palmer United Party did not support that motion and it was a deal-breaker for them. So very clearly, what we’ve got here is the implementation of two of our fundamental policies – abolition of the carbon tax, or if you want to call it an Emissions Trading Scheme, gone, not coming back under us in any way, shape or form at any time and anybody who has reported that is categorically wrong.
And then the introduction of the Emissions Reduction Fund which is a competitive approach to allow communities, to allow small businesses, to allow farmers to participate in cleaning up emissions. That’s a great outcome for the country and it’s a signature example of taking policies to the people and honouring those policies and implementing them.
KIERAN GILBERT:
Mr Hunt, in terms of the safeguard mechanism, can you explain to us what the penalties would be for companies, industries that don’t keep to business-as-usual levels? If they exceed their emissions on those business-as-usual levels as judged by the Government? What sort of penalties would they face?
GREG HUNT:
Sure. So again for your viewers there are two parts to the Emissions Reduction Fund. There is the purchasing of practical action to reduce emissions and then from mid-2016 there is a narrowly applied safeguards mechanism and what that will do is ensure that there are no rogue emitters that suddenly reverse their existing positions. But we are not expecting and we are not budgeting on raising a single dollar.
That’s the real test of a Government – is there likely to be any revenue raised? Our intention is no, our budgeting is no and that’s because we think that the firms will operate within it, but it is a safeguards mechanism so if somebody were to take a radically different position from what they’ve previously done, then there’s the capacity to deal with that.
KIERAN GILBERT:
And, just one last question before I let you go, I know you’ve got a busy day, but is there momentum, do you think, internationally towards a post-2020 deal on emissions targets? This is the, you referred to it earlier in the interview, the Paris talks at the end of next year. It’s similar to the Copenhagen talks a few years ago. There seems to be a bit more optimism heading into 2015. Is that a fair assessment?
GREG HUNT:
Look I hope that we can get an agreement that’s good for Australia and is good for the world if we do get an agreement. It’s fundamental that all of the major nations both developed and developing participate and make strong clear commitments. I am hopeful. I wouldn’t want us to get ahead of ourselves because there have been great promises in the past and great disappointments in the past, such as all of the talk pre-Copenhagen.
But if we are able to take a practical suite of measures, we have achieved our targets once, we are on track to achieve our targets a second time. Other nations have not been as successful as Australia and I think it’s very important that we say to the world – we can do this without a carbon tax because the United States and Japan and Canada have all moved away from a carbon tax or ETS’s and we are not heading there.
But we can do this without that sort of mechanism because it’s punitive and ineffective and we can achieve our targets and we can say to the Australian people – you can participate, you can improve the landscape, you can participate in energy efficiency, you can (inaudible) improve your productivity and reduce emissions.
That’s a pretty good message to the world and that’s a pretty good message to Australians that we’re taking our election commitments seriously and we’re delivering on them.
KIERAN GILBERT:
Environment Minister Greg Hunt, thank you for your time. Appreciate it.
GREG HUNT:
Thanks Kieran.
(ENDS)