25th Jun 2014, 6:52 PM – Representatives Carbon Farming Initiative Amendment Bill 2014 - Third Reading - Suspend standing orders so as to move third reading motion

The majority voted in favour of a motion introduced by Liberal MP Christopher Pyne, which was:

That so much of the standing orders be suspended as would prevent the motion for the third reading being moved without delay.

Because this motion was successful, the House will now vote on whether to read the bill for a third time and therefore pass it in the House.(See that third reading division here. )

Background to the bill

The bill was introduced to establish the Emissions Reduction Fund to replace the carbon price and to provide a transition for the Carbon Farming Initiative.(Read more about the bill in its explanatory memorandum. ) This is a central part of the Government's Direct Action policy,(Read more about Coalition's Direct Action policy on ABC News here. ) which was a key election commitment of the Coalition.

The Carbon Farming Initiative was introduced by the previous Labor Government and is a voluntary carbon offsets scheme that currently "allows farmers and land managers to earn carbon credits by reducing greenhouse gas emissions (such as nitrous oxide and methane) and storing carbon in vegetation and soils through changes to agricultural and land management practices (also known as carbon farming)".(Read more about the Carbon Farming Initiative here. )

The Coalition Government supports the Carbon Farming Initiative but Minister for Environment Greg Hunt has said that it "can be better, stronger, simpler and more streamlined",(Read Mr Hunt's full comments here. ) which is what this bill aims to do with its changes to the approvals process and the introduction of a 25-year-long option for carbon sequestration projects (currently all projects must run for a period of 100 years).(Read more about the changes in the bill's explanatory memorandum here.)