Electricity Supply Amendment (Greenhouse Gas Abatement Scheme) Bill 2006
Reverend the Hon. Dr GORDON MOYES: On behalf of the Christian Democratic Party I speak to the Electricity Supply Amendment (Greenhouse Gas Abatement Scheme) Bill, which amends the Electricity Supply Act 2002 to extend the duration of the New South Wales Greenhouse Gas Abatement Scheme from 2012 to 2021 and to introduce steeper financial penalties for violations from the current level of $11.50 to $15.50, adjusted regularly for the consumer price index over four equal rises. I wholeheartedly commend those purpose.
The bill seeks to extend the duration of the New South Wales Greenhouse Gas Abatement Scheme from 2012 to 2021. The bill addresses carbon emissions produced mainly by electricity generators, retailers and other large electricity traders who are all called benchmark participants. Approximately 40 per cent of the greenhouse gases emitted in our State originate from these sources. These benchmark participants have set greenhouse gas emission benchmarks under the Electricity Supply Act 2002, for which financial penalties apply if and when these target are exceeded. The Christian Democratic Party approves of these increased financial penalties to give economic disincentives to companies that generate high emitting electricity. The bill, however, does not reduce the overall emission target for the electricity sector, which in reality has undergone rapid growth in recent years. The continuing target of the Greenhouse Gas Abatement Scheme is set at 5 per cent below the emissions that were emitted in 1990. That target has not yet been reached. By 2007 it is expected by the Environment Liaison Office to be exceeded by eight million tonnes, or the equivalent of 1.3 million vehicles.
The fact behind the spin is that emissions continue to rise on the back of an incredible boom in the sector, mainly powered by brand new coal-fired plants. These questions need to be asked: When, if ever will the Government achieve the set overall emissions target? Does the Government have a year in mind when that goal will be achieved? Will it be 2015, 2025 or 2035? And: When will it occur? I suspect, because of this Government’s commitment to perpetuating coal-fired power, we will not see any abatement in emission levels for a long time—certainly not in my lifetime. New coal-fired power plants continue to be planned and to be built, each with a lifespan of decades.
Unfortunately, from my point of view—the view of someone who is committed and who acknowledges the reality of climate change—the Government’s greenhouse policy is like the Roman God Janus: remarkably two-faced. The first, green, face heralds the Government’s Greenhouse Gas Abatement Scheme. However, simultaneously, the opposing second face is covered in grubby black soot, with its commitment to polluting coal-fired power as opposed to nuclear or other zero emissions technologies such as solar or wind. Only today in question time the Minister for Mineral Resources, the Hon. Ian Macdonald, lauded the Government’s record in developing the coal industry. He proudly told the Chamber that coal exploration had doubled in New South Wales in the past six months, and he referred to the importance of further increasing the mining of coal.
Can the Government claim that it is tackling emissions when, to cite just one example, the Moolarben coal project is going ahead in the Mudgee region, which includes one underground mine and three open cut mines, which will excavate 127 million tonnes of coal? That amount of coal will put approximately 330 million tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. If that were not enough, the exploration licence granted by the Government allows the mines to have their very own purpose-built coal-fired power station, which in itself would put 382 million kilograms of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The mine itself and the coal that it produces for the world will continue to produce emissions for a period longer than the four to 22 years that the mine will be operational.
The Government’s attitude appears to be the attitude adopted by the Victorian Government many years ago. The then Premier, Henry Bolte, when asked about the enormous amount of pollution being put into the air through the brown coal electricity producing stations in Yallourn, made the remarkable comment, “Don’t worry about this kind of atmospheric pollution, it will all blow away.” Perhaps the Government thinks it can maintain its green image if it increases the mining and exporting of coal to the world. As long as that coal is not burnt on its back doorstep, it will just blow away. This discreetly ignores the fact that our home-grown coal burnt here, in China, in India, or anywhere else for that matter, contributes just the same as it would to the very nature of the global problem. Morris Iemma is intent on following Peter Beattie in this regard because they both realise the dollar value in their coal reserves on the international market. However, the difference is that Peter Beattie does not pretend to be a greenie on climate change.
The goalposts have changed. The debate is no longer about whether climate change is occurring; everyone has agreed that it is. Coal producers have admitted as much, as have the oil companies and the countries that have not signed the Kyoto agreement, including Australia and the United States of America. Hence, it is no longer good enough simply to acknowledge that climate change is real and think that makes one “green”. The debate is now about how severe climate change will be, how soon its consequences will be felt and what exactly governments should do to respond to it. When it comes to the fine print, this Government continues the green spin while daily taking decisions that perpetuate New South Wales’s booming greenhouse gas emissions for the next two generations.
The Christian Democratic Party supports the bill because we believe in continuing the Government’s greenhouse gas abatement scheme that was initiated in 2002 and because we believe the scheme is prudent in light of climate change and to reduce our reliance on coal-fired power. However, our support for the bill certainly should not be interpreted as approval of the Government’s two-faced record on climate change or support for greenhouse gas emitting, coal-fired power.