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23 comments on Sydney Petrol Prices
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23 comments on Sydney Petrol Prices
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Kiashu
I am not sure how you conducted your search of the parliamentary debates in Hansard. It is of course quite possible to talk about the depletion of world oil supplies without actually mentioning the term “peak oil”, so a search using only that term may well have missed some useful contributions. Your list mentions only member of the House of Representative so I just did a very quick (and incomplete) search of the Senate Hansards from 1 January 2006 to the present using the search term “peak oil” and had no problem finding at least eight senators who spoke on this topic. There were more than thirty speeches which discussed peak oil (18 from Senator Milne alone) by senators representing the Liberals, Nationals, ALP, Greens and Democrats.
Of course, in February 2007 the Senate also produced an excellent report which discussed peak oil in some detail see (http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/rrat_ctte/completed_inquiries/200... ) and it has also just appointed another committee to look into fuel and energy see http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/fuelenergy_ctte/tor.htm. [and also http://anz.theoildrum.com/node/4272 ]
In the first line of my post I linked to OpenAustralia.org, which resources allows searches. I then gave a link which was my search for the words "peak oil". So if you are unsure, I suggest a more thorough reading of the passage you are unsure about.
Of course peak oil is more discussed in the Senate, we have the Greens there. But let's be honest, what matters is discussion in the House. Whoever commands a majority in the House is invited by the Governor General to form a government. It is in the House that the real decisions are made.
"Proposed laws appropriating revenue or moneys, or imposing taxation, shall not originate in the Senate. [...]
"The Senate may not amend proposed laws imposing taxation, or proposed laws appropriating revenue or moneys for the ordinary annual services of the Government.
"The Senate may not amend any proposed law so as to increase any proposed charge or burden on the people." (Constitution, Chap1 PtV sec53)
But they can send it back asking for an amendment. So the Senate cannot for example create a carbon tax, or raise one which is offered to them in a bill from the House.
So in terms of the big issues, only the government of the day can do anything about them. The House, by virtue of holding the government of the day, may act without the Senate, unless the Senate be entirely hostile (which happens every thirty years or so). But the Senate may not act without the House.
It's what's said and done in the House which really matters.
Your original post on this matter was in reply to Thirra’s asking whether “anybody in the government/opposition” understands the nation’s problems. I assumed, and I think most people would assume, that he meant all members of Parliament not just those in the lower house. Which is why I am surprised that you relied on the OpenAustralia.Org site which does not cover the Senate. Why not go directly to the horse’s mouth, the Australian Parliament website, where you could have searched for the contributions of all members of the Government and the Opposition and minor parties and independents? By choosing to look at only one house of Parliament you created the misleading impression that only four parliamentarians had spoken on peak oil.
Don't try to cover your sloppy reading by nitpicking pedantry and deliberate obtuseness. Let's focus on what's really being discussed here.
Thirra obviously does not think that of the couple of thousand or more federal, state and local elected representatives not one of them has any idea about fossil fuel depletion and climate change. He was obviously asking about people in a position to do something.
Thirra's literal question was whether anyone in Parliament at all knew what was going on, but at the heart of that was the question as to whether anyone in a position to do something about it knew what was going on.
And the answer is that some of them know about peak fossil fuels, but they obviously don't consider it a pressing issue; whereas they know well about climate change, consider it a pressing issue, and are doing counterproductive things about it.
Calm down - there's no reason to start flaming each other.
I think its fair to point to the Senators who have discussed peak oil, especially Senator milne who has mentioned it frequently.
You also (being pedantic) missed various state ministers of various levels of influence who are also following the issue - such as McNamara in Queensland and Alannah MacTiernan in WA (who managed to push through a new electrified rail line between Perth and Mandurah, for example).