Author: admin

Reference: Senate Hansard, Thursday, 31 November 2006. p.26. Document is available at: http://www.aph.gov.au/hansard/senate/dailys/ds301106.pdf

Erisk Net, 4/12/2006

The Australian Financial Review, 5/12/2006, p.62

Source: Erisk Net 

… but a fast-growing one: It is also part of what may be the fastest-growing financial market in the world. The carbon market is worth $US22 billion ($A29 billion), twice as much as a year ago. A year before that it didn’t exist. It is also helping Europe meet its Kyoto targets, since most companies and countries that are active in it are European.

Hot air? But to Australian Prime Minister John Howard – until this week – it was mainly hot air. Howard argued, reportedly against the advice of Environment Minister Ian Campbell, that Australia didn’t yet need an emissions trading scheme. He said the European scheme, which forms the basis of the global market, was flawed.

Aust a late starter: Curnow believes that in delaying, Howard robbed Australian companies of an incentive to cut their emissions, as well as gain invaluable expertise in a new market.

Tapdancing on shifting sands: Then, on Monday, Howard announced the establishment of a taskforce into emissions trading. Howard’s turnaround was more evidence of how quickly the ground is shifting in the field of climate change.

Thar’s gold in them thar emissions: Yet, as both science and politics show, humans are not moving nearly fast enough. As 6000 delegates to a summit on climate change discussed the fate of the planet this week, business people ran stalls, swapped cards and talked about making money. As the presence in Nairobi of Curnow, Cameron and scores of other corporate observers indicated, green capitalism is here.

Strong caps needed: But that doesn’t mean the state is dead: quite the opposite. As British economic adviser Sir Nicholas Stern said in a speech to delegates, the market is only part of the answer to global warming. Strong governments were vital to set ambitious emissions targets, which create the market for carbon by making the credits valuable, to regulate environmentally damaging practices and invest in green technology.

Regulation rules: What is probably dead is not the state but the neo-liberal dream of small government, a casualty of climate change.

The Age, 18/11/2006, p. 4

Profits keep turbines running: With Queensland receiving 2.5c per kilowatt hour for power, which costs 1.3c to produce, the estimated profit over the two years is $140 million. Tarong Energy sources said that during this time – and as the debate over water planning became a key state election issue – two of the station’s five generators could have been temporarily shut down to reduce water consumption.

Full throttle despite water curbs: Instead, Tarong operated at near full capacity as water restrictions in Brisbane and elsewhere were tightened. At the same time, central Queensland generators at Callide, Gladstone and Rockhampton operated at reduced capacity.

Beattie’s "beat-up" not so: Premier Peter Beattie had dismissed as a “beat-up” revelations in The Australian that Wivenhoe Dam was running dry as the Swanbank and Tarong power stations supplied NSW with electricity the state did not need. Mr Beattie claimed the amount of water drawn by Swanbank was “bugger-all”.

Massive take from Wivenhoe: In fact, Swanbank is drawing about 25 million litres of water a day for cooling from Wivenhoe Dam, with the Tarong North generator taking up to 30 million litres. Four other Tarong generators have depended on water from the dam when supplies from Kingaroy’s Bundoomba Dam have been unreliable. Queensland Energy Minister Geoff Wilson and Tarong Energy declined to comment yesterday.

Call for commonwealth action: Australian Water Association chief executive Chris Davis said power blackouts loomed in some states as authorities grappled with the competing demands of water conservation and power generation. “The commonwealth really needs to be doing more to get a grip on this,” Davis said.

Costing more than land: Water brokers say that in many cases, the value of a water licence owned by someone along the river was worth far more than their land. While brokers say the price surges are linked to market forces, there is concern private licence holders – typically irrigation companies or family businesses – are exploiting drought conditions for personal gain.

"Blatant profiteering": Independent MP Bob Such, who has been touring regional SA and Victoria on water-related issues, said the latest trading amounted to “blatant profiteering” that must be addressed. The system was a “dog’s breakfast”, he said.

Huge price increase: Figures provided by Waterfind – a service used by irrigators across the country to buy, sell and lease their water – show the average price for permanent River Murray irrigation licence water has increased from $1335/ML in July to $1374/ML in August, $1395/ML in September, $1682/ML in October and $2023 in November.

Volume up too: The amount of water traded also has significantly increased, from a total of just 174.34ML in July to 1358ML this month.

The Advertiser, 30/11/2006, p. 11