24th Jul 2019, 12:19 PM – Senate Future Drought Fund Bill 2019 and another - in Committee - Fossil fuels

The majority voted against amendments introduced by Victorian Senator Janet Rice (Greens), which means it failed.

Senator Rice explained that:

These amendments are a very significant way of doing something about [climate change]—of actually making sure that the drought fund that is going to be repairing the impacts of climate change is not, at the same time, investing in the very things that are causing it. These amendments on sheet 8704 would mean that the drought fund would not invest in coal and gas and oil. Furthermore, that would then be included in the investment mandate for this fund, and furthermore these amendments say that this fund should again be a disallowable instrument, to make sure that the investment mandate is as it should be—that it is taking the reality of our climate catastrophe into account.

Motion text

(1) Clause 5, page 8 (after line 25), after the definition of person, insert:

prohibited financial asset: a financial asset is a prohibited financial asset if the financial asset includes an interest in a body corporate that produces fossil fuels.

(2) Clause 39, page 41 (line 23), at the end of subclause (1), add "that are not prohibited financial assets".

(3) Clause 41, page 43 (line 30) to page 44 (line 6), omit subclause (7), substitute:

(7) A direction under subsection (1) is a legislative instrument.

(8) Despite regulations made for the purposes of paragraphs 44(2) (b) and 54(2) (b) of the Legislation Act 2003, section 42 (disallowance) and Part 4 of Chapter 3 (sunsetting) of that Act apply to a direction under subsection (1).

(4) Heading to clause 54, page 50 (line 25), at the end of the heading, add "etc.".

(5) Clause 54, page 50 (line 31), at the end of subclause (1), add:

; or (c) an asset held by the Board as an investment of the Future Drought Fund is, or has become, a prohibited financial asset.