Senator MILNE (Tasmania) (3:59 PM) -I rise today to join this matters of public importance debate on the decision by the government to reverse its decision to overturn the ban on the importation of beef products from countries affected by BSE. I do welcome the fact that the government has done a backflip on this particular issue. I congratulate the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry for intervening. It demonstrates that when the community is concerned and raises its objections in a logical manner, through a Senate inquiry process, at least the minister is listening. So I am pleased, and I congratulate Minister Burke for taking this decision. There should actually be more of that. There should be more of government ministers recognising that when they have made a mistake they should change their minds, not dig in and pretend that nothing has happened and that the community ought not to be listened to.

Senator MILNE (Tasmania) (8.45 pm)-by leave-I move Australian Greens amendments (10), (11), (19), (20), (23), (28), (29), (34) and (62) on sheet 5786 together:

These amendments go to one of the most unjustified and toxic aspects of the carbon pollution reduction scheme. This is the issue of free permits to coal fired electricity generators. The issuing of free permits to the very industry that has caused the greatest problem, that as a sector generates the greatest number of emissions in Australia is the coal fired electricity sector.
Professor Garnaut, in his review, said:
There is no public policy justification for $3.9 billion in unconditional payments to generators in relation to hypothetical future ‘loss of asset value'. Never in the history of Australian public finance has so much been given without public policy purpose, by so many, to so few.
That is a big call, and I wonder what Professor Garnaut is saying now that the $3.9 billion has been massively increased to $7.3 billion? I repeat: there is no public policy purpose for these free permits going to coal fired power stations. Of course, they are not just bits of paper; they have monetary value.

Senator MILNE (Tasmania) (5:24 PM) -I am afraid I have to quote Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet: ‘A plague on both your houses.' The fact of the matter is that the CSIRO is nothing like the research organisation that it used to be. It has been cowed by successive federal governments, with the Howard government being an absolute champion at turning the organisation into one too afraid to say anything about climate change because of the attitude of the Howard government. It has continued under the Rudd government.

It is a disgrace, and I have to say that I totally agree with what Graeme Pearman had to say about the CSIRO's censorship under the Howard government. Why would I be surprised when the then management at CSIRO, Dr Garrett, employed Donna Staunton, a tobacco industry lobbyist, to be the Communications Officer for the CSIRO?

Senator MILNE (Tasmania) (3:56 PM) -I seek leave to make a short statement relating to Senator Barnett's motion which has just been passed.

The DEPUTY PRESIDENT -Leave is granted for two minutes.

Senator MILNE -The Australian Greens did not support the Howard government's establishment of these colleges because we believed at the time that it was a politically motivated decision, that the colleges would duplicate services already provided by existing institutions-the TAFE colleges in particular-and that the establishment of the colleges was part of the attack on the union movement. However, these colleges have been established. They are very well funded in comparison with similar colleges offering similar services and that disproportionate funding is inequitable.

Having said that, the Bartlett Labor government in Tasmania has made a complete and utter mess of the transitional arrangements to this new system of the academy and polytechnics and so on. There is no clear transitional arrangement for the 270 students and 35 staff in the Australian Technical College Northern Tasmania with its two campuses that we are discussing here today. There are no satisfactory transitional arrangements. There is no guarantee on staffing. We do note that the Bartlett government has now said that it will do everything it can to make sure that the colleges do not fail, and I am glad to hear that that is the case. So we are supporting this on the basis that those students and staff have proper transitional arrangements and that equivalent certification can be achieved as this process is worked through.