19 October
2006 - Minister for the Environment and Heritage,
Senator Ian Campbell, today said that the Shuangliao
wind energy installation, a joint Australia-China
business venture, put paid to the lies that have
been constantly peddled that Australian businesses
would be locked out of opportunities available
through the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development
Mechanism (CDM).
Senator Campbell launched the
project, a collaborative effort between Australia's
Roaring 40s Company and China's Datang Corporation
(one of the five major state-owned electricity
generation corporations in China) on Tuesday.
It will generate energy for
tens of thousands of people in China's Jilin province
and save up to 200,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide
each year.
"For years the Labor Party
has been banging on, saying that because Australia
had not ratified the Kyoto Protocol, Australian
businesses would miss out on opportunities under
the CDM. Today Mr Albanese has suddenly realised
that he is wrong," Senator Campbell said.
"This project was made
possible through the business-to-business contacts
fostered under the Australia-China Climate Change
Partnership. If it was a 100 per cent owned Aussie
project it wouldn't be built in China. Chinese
law requires 51 per cent ownership.
"The rules on ownership
and qualification are in fact quite flexible.
"This project promotes
Australian renewable energy experience and expertise,
will give a large number of people access to energy
they never had before, and is good for the global
environment.
"It is a great example
of the type of partnerships both our broader bilateral
climate change relationship and this specific
business mission are designed to create – partnerships
that benefit both the businesses involved and
the environment.
"We understand that it
is also currently going through the validation
process to be registered as a CDM project – the
Australian Government is pleased to be able to
help facilitate Australian business partnerships
between other companies and other countries.
"While the Australian Government
cannot itself participate in the CDM, the Australian
Government has repeatedly made the point that
Australian companies do have means to access this
mechanism."
"At a time when the Government is making
a difference by creating real projects in Australia
and China to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,
the ALP is spreading misinformation and discouraging
Aussie firms from getting involved.
Rob Broadfield
