STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS

Mr FARLEY (Farrer) (13:33): Australians are being sold a new, improved $1.5 billion native forest fraud. That figure comes from government funded modelling from Mandala Partners, modelling that has never been released. The method was only registered on 26 June this year, yet the numbers behind it were locked in months earlier.

Dr Raison, former CSIRO chief scientist, says the claim of 1.5 million credits a year is 60 per cent more carbon than exists in all the native timber felled in New South Wales annually. Forestry Australia says the method could overcredit by up to 100 per cent. The carbon price it relies on, $67 per unit, is 70 per cent above today's market.

Strip away those fantasy numbers, and the real return is closer to $58 million. Research shows that 80 per cent of the timber we stop producing gets replaced by imports, much of it from high-risk, illegally logged sources. We're exporting our emissions, our standards, while claiming credit at home.

Meanwhile, 8,900 jobs and a $2.9 billion industry are on the line, funded by a scheme that covers 15 years against a 100-year obligation. Before senators vote on 15 September, release the modelling and answer the experts. Australia deserves truth not fantasy.