Peter Slipper (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

All of us in this parliament and indeed all of us around the country believe that we have to do more for our environment, both in Australia and on a worldwide basis, to make sure that the environment is in good order for future generations of Australians and future generations of people in other parts of the world. Therefore, both sides of politics support actions to restrict emissions. There is, of course, some point of difference between the various sides of politics over just how this scheme should be started, how it should be designed and when it should come in, but I would like to draw the attention of the Main Committee to a media statement by a former ACT Chief Minister, Kate Carnell AO, who is Chief Executive of the Australian Food and Grocery Council. The council urged the Australian government, in a media statement dated 15 September, to implement a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme which ensures that Australia’s food and grocery manufacturing sector’s international competitiveness is maintained.

In that media release it was pointed out that any emissions trading scheme that does not include international emitters represents a real threat to the packaged food and grocery industry. She pointed out that the sector has annual sales and service income in excess of $70 billion and employs more than 200,000 people, many of whom are based in rural and regional Australia, while the processed food sector sources more than 90 per cent of its ingredients from Australian agriculture. The media statement pointed out:

… in the absence of a global agreement the grocery group supports a carbon import levy, which would allow Australian industry to compete with imports from countries that do not have a carbon trading scheme or tax.

The view of the council is that, alternatively:

… a $5 to $10 a tonne price on carbon would allow the sector to maintain its competitiveness while reducing its carbon emissions.

It really is important that we do our bit for the world environment but we ought to do so in a way that does not gut Australian agriculture. Of course, the products of Australian agriculture being sold here in Australia are competing, in some cases, with products imported from overseas which would not have the same impediment imposed on them as the government’s policy would seek to do. I think it is important to reconsider this, just to make sure that our own industry is protected in this area. (Time expired)