Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2009 [No. 2]

The majority voted in favour of a motion that the bill be agreed to.(Read more about the stages that a bill must pass through here. )

This means that the House can now decide whether to read the bill for a third time. Though note that in this case, the House subsequently agreed to read the bill for a third time without a formal division.(See the record of these votes on Open Australia here. Read more about why not all votes are decided by formal division in our FAQ section. )

Background to the bill

The Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2009 (No. 2) was introduced as part of a package of six bills along with five other related bills to introduce the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme. It is identical to the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2009 as amended in the House of Representatives before it was negated in the Senate.(See that division here. )

The scheme is an emission trading scheme designed to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in an effort to address climate change. It gives effect to Australia's obligations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol.

The design of the scheme has been criticised by the business community for threatening jobs and by environmentalists for not going far enough with its emission reduction targets.(Read more about these criticisms here.)

The six bills that were introduced as a package are called:

• the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme Bill 2009 (No. 2)
• the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2009 (No. 2)
• the Australian Climate Change Regulatory Authority Bill 2009 (No. 2)
• the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (Charges-Customs) Bill 2009 (No. 2)
• the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (Charges-Excise) Bill 2009 (No. 2)
• the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (Charges-General) Bill 2009 (No. 2)

The five other related bills are called:

• the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS Fuel Credits) Bill 2009 (No. 2)
• the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS Fuel Credits) (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2009 (No. 2)
• the Excise Tariff Amendment (Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme) Bill 2009 (No. 2)
• the Customs Tariff Amendment (Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme) Bill 2009 (No. 2)
• the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme Amendment (Household Assistance) Bill 2009 (No. 2)

References