Gillard reveals climate change committee

Australia has moved closer to putting a price on carbon, with the government
revealing the makeup of a new climate committee amid accusations of secrecy and
division over the emissions target.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced her new multi-party climate change committee
on Monday, which includes Greens leader Bob Brown and Greens deputy leader Christine
Milne.
The committee's starting point will be that a carbon price is required to reduce
pollution and encourage investment in low-emission technologies.
Its deliberations will be "broadly limited" to the issue of carbon pricing, and
consider pricing mechanisms such as a broad-based emissions trading scheme, a carbon
levy, or a hybrid of both.
The committee will receive independent advice from four experts - Ross Garnaut, Will
Steffen, Rod Sims and Patricia Faulkner - as well as from departmental secretaries
involved in implementing climate change policy.
But just minutes after the committee was unveiled, the government and the Greens had
to defend its terms of reference, which show discussions would be behind closed
doors.
"Cabinet meets in secrecy, so do party rooms," Senator Brown told reporters in
Canberra.
"The end result is going to be very public and a bit of secrecy, or confidentiality,
along the way to get the best result over all is a reasonable price to pay."
Nor does Senator Brown see a problem that Labor and the Greens have wildly different
views on emissions targets.
The government had previously announced its emissions reduction targets that range
from a five per cent cut over 2000 levels by 2020, up to a 25 per cent cut dependent
on international action.
In contrast, the Greens have respective targets of 25 per cent and 40 per cent.
"Our targets are different but our targets are the same. We are aiming to get a good
outcome from this committee," Senator Brown said.
Ms Gillard, who will chair monthly committee meetings that start next month, said
independent MP Tony Windsor has indicated willingness to be a member.
Climate Change Minister Greg Combet and Senator Milne will be co-chairs, but the
opposition quickly rejected Ms Gillard's invitation to put forward two
representatives to join the discussions.
She has urged Opposition Leader Tony Abbott not to "wreck" the committee process, or
seek to "fearmonger about it", but wouldn't be drawn on whether she would directly
ask coalition MPs to join.
"Parliamentary members of the committee will be drawn from those who are committed
to tackling climate change and who acknowledge that effectively reducing carbon
pollution by 2020 will require a carbon price," Ms Gillard said.
Opposition climate action spokesman Greg Hunt said the committee was repugnant
because the outcome was already known.
"This committee is repugnant because it has a test that someone must sign up to a
pre-ordained outcome. I am not aware, and we are not aware, of any such belief-test
on a parliamentary committee in the past 110 years," Mr Hunt told reporters in
Canberra.
There will also be two roundtables to discuss a price on carbon - for the business
community, and other environment and non-government organisations.
The committee will regularly meet until the end of 2011, at which time the ongoing
need for its existence will be considered.
Under the committee's terms of reference, decisions will be reached by consensus,
but if no agreement can be reached the decision will be put before cabinet.
"However ... what we have committed to do here is to examine ways in which a carbon
price could be introduced into the economy to start the important work of reducing
emissions," Mr Combet said.