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Parliamentary Questions


Question On Notice No. 1051 asked in the Legislative Council on 15 March 2018 by Hon Robin Chapple

Question Directed to the: Minister for Environment representing the Minister for Energy
Parliament: 40 Session: 1


Question

I refer to the activities of Cockburn Cement, operating on Russel Road, Munster, and I ask:
(a) is the Minister aware that Adelaide Brighton Limited, the parent company of Cockburn Cement Ltd which operates premises in Russell Road Munster, is seeking to prevent the National Energy Regulator from publishing data about carbon dioxide emissions from the premises and its other Western Australian operations:
(i) if no to (a), is the Minister aware of correspondence sent to his office recently about this issue;
(b) is the Minister aware that other entities including Western Australia’s major gas and aluminium producers reporting carbon dioxide emissions to the National Energy Regulator, have agreed to the publication of their greenhouse emissions;
(c) is the Minister aware of any reason why Cockburn Cement Ltd, and its parent company, should be exempt from publication by the national Energy Regulator of data, as to its carbon dioxide emissions; and
(d) has the Minister or the department, under section 27 (1)(b) of the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act 2007 (C/th) or otherwise, sought to obtain the carbon dioxide baseline data from the National Energy Regulator relating to premises in Western Australia owned or operated by Adelaide Brighton Limited or Cockburn Cement Limited:
(i) if no to (d), why not?

Answered on 5 April 2018

(a) No. Annual corporate level emissions and energy use data is publicly available for Adelaide Brighton Limited on the Clean Energy Regulator website. However, Adelaide Brighton Limited’s facility level data are withheld from publication. The decision whether or not to publish information for an individual facility reported under the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act 2007 is a matter between the Commonwealth Government and the proponent.

(i) No

(b) No. The provisions of National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act 2007 govern what information will or will not be published. This legislation is a Commonwealth Government responsibility. 

(c) Yes. Under section 25 of the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act 2007, registered corporations may apply to have all or part of their reported greenhouse gas emissions and energy production and consumption totals withheld from publication. A request can be made for information not to be published if the information reveals, or could be capable of revealing trade secrets, or any other matter having a commercial value that would be, or could reasonably be expected to be, destroyed or diminished if the information were disclosed about a specific facility, technology or corporate initiative relating to the corporation.

(d) Under the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act 2007, the Public Utilities Office has access to facility level emissions and energy use data for Western Australia, including information about the Cockburn Cement Munster facility. The Western Australian Government is restricted from disclosing data it has received from the Clean Energy Regulator.