Bills - Safeguard Mechanism (Crediting) Amendment Bill 2022 - Second Reading

Senator Grogan: I'm going to make a very brief contribution to debate on the Safeguard Mechanism (Crediting) Amendment Bill 2023. I've spoken about the safeguard mechanism numerous times over the last number of months, and I don't propose to rehash any of that. As the Chair of the Senate Environment and Communications Committee I chaired the inquiry into this bill, and I can assure you that the contributions that we heard from industry, from environment and climate groups, from business and from emitters are much, much more balanced than we are hearing in this chamber tonight. I strongly suggest that people switch off and read the report from the committee, which has a much more balanced approach. It draws directly from the people who spoke to us about the safeguard mechanism, and the report probably gives you a much better view of what's going on here than what we're hearing, particularly from those opposite.

I want to take the opportunity to commend Minister Chris Bowen and his team for their tireless work to achieve something that so many of us have been aching for for well over a decade. I commend this bill to the Senate. It is a fair bill, it is a balanced bill and it is an essential bill.