25th Nov 2009, 12:35 PM – Senate Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme Bill 2009 [No. 2] and related bills - Second Reading - Refer to committee

The majority voted against a motion introduced by Senator Rachel Siewert.

It would have amended the original motion "That these bills be now read a second time" with the following:

At the end of the motion, add “and that:

(a) the bills, the multi-billion dollar adjustment to the bills, as agreed by the Coalition and the Government in November 2009, and the amendments required to implement that agreement, be referred to the Economics Legislation Committee for inquiry and report by 12.30pm on 1 December 2009;

(b) the Minister representing the Treasurer provide to that committee by 30 November 2009, for consideration as part of that inquiry, any modelling or analysis commissioned by Treasury and/or the Department of Climate Change and all documents prepared by Treasury in relation to the August 2009 Frontier Economics report on the economic impact of the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme;(Read that report here (1.6 MB) )

(c) the Senate meet from 1 December to 3 December 2009 to consider the bills;

(d) further consideration of the bills be an order of the day for the day the committee presents its report”.

Background to the bills

The Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme Bill 2009 (No. 2) was introduced as part of a package of six bills along with five other related bills to introduce the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme. They reflect the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme Bill 2009 and its related acts, as amended in the House of Representatives before it was negated in the Senate.(See that division here. )

The scheme is an emission trading scheme designed to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in an effort to address climate change. It gives effect to Australia's obligations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol.

The design of the scheme has been criticised by the business community for threatening jobs and by environmentalists for not going far enough with its emission reduction targets.(Read more about these criticisms here.)

The six bills that were introduced as a package are called:

• the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme Bill 2009 (No. 2)
• the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2009 (No. 2)
• the Australian Climate Change Regulatory Authority Bill 2009 (No. 2)
• the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (Charges-Customs) Bill 2009 (No. 2)
• the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (Charges-Excise) Bill 2009 (No. 2)
• the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (Charges-General) Bill 2009 (No. 2)

The five other related bills are called:

• the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS Fuel Credits) Bill 2009 (No. 2)
• the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS Fuel Credits) (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2009 (No. 2)
• the Excise Tariff Amendment (Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme) Bill 2009 (No. 2)
• the Customs Tariff Amendment (Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme) Bill 2009 (No. 2)
• the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme Amendment (Household Assistance) Bill 2009 (No. 2)

References