STANDING COMMITTEE ON FINANCE AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
(Senate-Monday, 20 October 2008)

DEPARTMENT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET PORTFOLIO - Department of Climate Change

Senator «MILNE» -I am trying to get a holistic idea of what the government is spending on carbon capture and storage, and it is very difficult to get any sense of that across the whole of government. Now I will come to a policy question on carbon capture and storage, given that the Prime Minister made it a part of his speech to the UN recently. It is rumoured that Australia intends to get a global coal pact out of Poznan, to elevate AP6 to a global pact for a multibillion-dollar investment in carbon capture and storage. Is that something Australia is pursuing?

Senator Wong -A global coal pact.

Senator «MILNE» -Based on carbon capture and storage, out of Poznan.

Senator Wong-I am not sure. Certainly the Prime Minister announced the global carbon capture and storage initiative. We are pursuing that strongly because of our very firm view that that is in Australia's national interest and also the interests of tackling climate change. But I am not sure if I can assist you in relation to any additional initiative. That certainly has been announced.

Senator «MILNE» -What does this global coal initiative mean and was that part of what you were talking to the Polish government about in Warsaw?

Senator Wong-I absolutely, in a bilateral and multilateral context, will put Australia's national interest view. And we in this government do believe that a global effort on carbon capture and storage is not only in our economic interest but in the interest of tackling climate change. I appreciate you do not share that view, but that is our view and, yes, I will continue to put that. The funding of this initiative, as I have explained to you previously, comes out of Minister Ferguson's portfolio, and the responsibility for the global initiative on carbon capture and storage is Minister Ferguson's. Obviously we are aware of it and have had some involvement in it because it has a climate change aspect, but fundamentally it is that portfolio's responsibility. I can assist you to a point, but if you have detailed questions they should go to Resources, Energy and Tourism.

Senator «MILNE» -But I am assuming that you, not Minister Ferguson, will be the one in Poznan pursuing this global carbon capture initiative.

Senator Wong-The initiative itself might have relevance to a multilateral position or multilateral discussions but the government has proposed to assist in funding the institute and is engaging currently with other nations about collaboration. So that is a separate process to the Poznan negotiations.

Senator «MILNE» -Which other nations?

Senator Wong -As I said, you will need to address those questions to RET.

Senator «MILNE» -So, on the bilaterals, which other nations are you talking to about this?

Senator Wong-I am talking to a range of nations about a number of issues associated with the global negotiations. Yes, absolutely we will inform them about what Australia is doing, but this portfolio is not the one with the responsibility for progressing that internationally in terms of the actual institute and the technical and other discussions about it. My officials remind me that there is proposed to be, as one of the side events at Poznan, a joint event involving the Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism and the International Energy Agency in relation to the global initiative. But there are a number of side events at Poznan, so a number of nations, and presumably the private sector as well, will be doing technical, scientific et cetera presentations on a range of areas alongside the international negotiations of the conference of the parties.

Senator «MILNE»-Madam Chair, I would like to ask some questions about the feed-in tariff, but I am aware that Senator Xenophon may want to follow on from what I have just asked, so could you come back to me?