25th Jun 2014, 6:45 PM – Representatives Carbon Farming Initiative Amendment Bill 2014 - Second Reading - Criticise the Government's climate change policies

The majority disagreed with Labor MP Mark Butler's statement that:

• the Government has a poor record on environmental and climate change issues
• taxpayers, not big polluters, will have to pay for the Emissions Reduction Fund
• the impact of this bill on the Carbon Farming Initiative should be examined
• the Government has not made a "robust and defensible assurance" about how the changes in this bill can achieve Australia's emissions reduction target
• Australia's international reputation on climate change has been damaged
• the Government needs to create an emissions trading scheme.

Main idea of the bill

The bill creates an Emissions Reduction Fund so the Government can buy domestic greenhouse gas emissions reductions and offsets by reverse auction. It also makes some changes to the Carbon Farming Initiative, like introducing a 25-year-long option for carbon sequestration projects (right now all projects have to run for 100 years).

Carbon Farming Initiative

The Carbon Farming Initiative lets farmers and land managers earn carbon credits by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and storing carbon in vegetation and soils by changing their agricultural and land management practices.

Background to the bill

The Emissions Reduction Fund is a key part of the Coalition Government's Direct Action policy, which was an election commitment. It will replace the carbon price as the main part of the Australian Government's effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Australia has agreed with the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which means that Australia has agreed to reduce emissions by five per cent of 2000 levels by 2020.

Read more about the changes made by the bill in the bills digest.