Higher Education Support Amendment (Australia's Economic Accelerator) Bill 2022

The majority voted in favour of amendments (1) and (2) on sheet 1838 moved by NSW Senator Mehreen Faruqi (Greens), which means they succeeded.

What do be amendments do?

Senator Faruqi explained that:

As I flagged in my second reading speech, these amendments are to ensure that the accelerator advisory board's research commercialisation strategy cannot be inconsistent with Australia's greenhouse gas emission reduction targets. These are important to ensure that this significant new funding program cannot be used to fund research that could put our emissions reduction targets at risk, and to make sure that the strategy remains consistent with Australia's greenhouse gas emissions targets.

Amendment text

(1) Schedule 1, item 3, page 4 (after line 10), after subsection 42-1(1), insert:

(1A) The strategy must not be inconsistent with Australia's greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets.

(2) Schedule 1, item 11, page 15 (after line 15), after the definition of Australia's Economic Accelerator program information, insert:

Australia's greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets means:

(a) if:

(i) Australia's current nationally determined contribution was communicated in accordance with Article 4 of the Paris Agreement in June 2022; and

(ii) that nationally determined contribution has not been adjusted in accordance with paragraph 11 of Article 4 of the Paris Agreement;

the greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets set out in paragraphs 10(1)(a) and (b) of the Climate Change Act 2022; or

(b) in any other case—the greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets included in:

(i) Australia's current nationally determined contribution communicated in accordance with Article 4 of the Paris Agreement; or

(ii) if that nationally determined contribution has been adjusted in accordance with paragraph 11 of Article 4 of the Paris Agreement—that nationally determined contribution, as adjusted and in force from time to time.

Paris Agreement means the Paris Agreement, done at Paris on 12 December 2015, as amended and in force for Australia from time to time.

Note: The Agreement is in Australian Treaty Series 2016 No. 24 ([2016] ATS 24) and could in 2023 be viewed in the Australian Treaties Library on the AustLII website (http://www.austlii.edu.au).