MARK DREYFUS MP

We say that climate change is a global problem. It is a problem of the most severe kind - an environmental problem confronting not only Australia but the planet. It is one that needs to be grappled with by cutting carbon emissions.

I am more than happy to talk about the government's climate change policy, about how we are getting on with the job of legislating a carbon price for Australia and how we are getting on with the job of legislating to tackle climate change by putting a price tag on every tonne of pollution that is produced by around 500 large polluters.

Wellington's Climate Change and Business Conference to outline Australia’s new policy directions to address climate change through reducing carbon emissions.

The argument for a market based mechanism is based on the simple fact that Australians at work and in their lives generally, are far better placed to deliver an efficient transformation in the economy than any minister or bureaucrat.

Under their plan, Australia will not reach that emissions reduction target or anything like it by 2020. If we proceed down the path that the coalition is proceeding on, it will commit Australia to purchasing international permits at a cost of billions and billions of dollars to the taxpayers of this country.

Take a Break program operates from our neighbourhood and community centres and provides respite for parents and carers of children up to the age of six, enabling them to participate in recreational and social activities or undertake volunteer or part-time work that would otherwise not be possible. It is disappointing that the new Liberal government has decided to cut the $1.9 million needed for the Take a Break program.

The Carbon Farming Initiative is a key part of the Gillard government's climate change agenda. Under this scheme for the first time the federal government will help facilitate the sale of carbon credits on domestic and international markets. The scheme will begin to unlock abatement opportunities in the land sector, a sector which currently accounts for around a quarter of Australia's emissions. It will contribute to improving farm productivity, creating jobs in the regions, providing new opportunities for Indigenous communities, enhancing our biodiversity and building resilience to the impacts of climate change.

It saddens me to be again calling for the release of Gilad Shalit.

This richness is reflected at Noble Park Primary School, where most students come from a non-English-speaking background, with up to 35 languages being spoken. Just as Miss Ernst made European fairy stories into Australian stories, students at Noble Park Primary School will make their cultural traditions part of the Australian story. The stories that start at Noble Park primary are the stories of Australia's futur

The carbon farming initiative fulfils an election commitment to give farmers, forest growers and landholders access to carbon markets. By doing so, the carbon farming initiative will create new real and lasting economic opportunities for regional communities in this country.