Carbon Credits and Other Legislation Amendment (Integrity and Transparency) Bill 2026

Ms CAMPBELL (Moreton) (11:18): As we debate this legislation and prepare to vote on it there really is one simple question that all of us in this chamber need to answer: are we prepared to implement the expert and independent advice on how to strengthen the integrity, transparency and accountability of Australia's carbon market? That is the question at the heart of the Carbon Credits and Other Legislation Amendment (Integrity and Transparency) Bill 2026.

Australia's carbon market has grown to become one of the largest and, indeed, one of the most respected carbon markets across the globe. Its success demonstrates that strong environmental outcomes can go hand in hand with economic opportunity and investment. Listening to the member for Dawson talk about uncertainty, it is not lost on people who recall what happened under a decade of coalition government how dripping with irony his comments were.

What we saw, in stark contrast to what we are seeing now, was 10 years of deep uncertainty when it came to carbon policy and when it came to the regulatory frameworks that not only businesses but also the broader community had to deal with. Those were dark days. They were dark days because businesses, small businesses and big businesses, had absolutely no idea what was happening, had no idea what legislation was coming down the pipeline next, had no idea how to plan for their businesses and their economic prosperity and had no idea how to hire or what skills to build.

We cannot go back to those days. The Australian Carbon Credit Unit Scheme provides a mechanism for businesses, landholders, traditional owners and other participants to generate carbon credits by avoiding or reducing greenhouse gas emissions or removing carbon from the atmosphere and storing it over the long term. Projects under the scheme deliver these practical outcomes in many different ways.

Participants may adopt new technologies or modernise equipment and infrastructure, driving productivity at the same time. They can improve business operations and energy efficiency, adopting cheaper and cleaner ways of producing energy, or they can implement better land and vegetation management practices, helping protect our environment and incentivising better economic outcomes, incentivising better pricing for business and incentivising more sustainable outcomes across the deck.

It's working. Since 2011, the ACCU Scheme has delivered more than 190 million tonnes of emissions abatement through over 2,600 projects. The market is valued at more than $4 billion.

That is a market that didn't exist until just a few short years ago. Critically, the scheme is an important part of Australia's plan to reduce emissions and achieve net zero by 2050. Beyond its contribution to climate goals, the scheme is generating significant economic, social and cultural benefits, particularly in regional and remote areas.

ACCUs have become a new agricultural commodity, helping farmers and landowners to have the opportunity to diversify their income and to attract investment via activities such as soil carbon sequestration, plantation forestry and reforestation. The scheme is also creating meaningful economic opportunities for First Nations communities, supporting employment, enterprise development and long-term investment.

In doing so, it's helping Indigenous communities build that economic independence while maintaining strong connections to country and to culture. The scheme recognises and rewards the environmental value of traditional land management knowledge and practices, including strategic and controlled burning early in the dry season. These methods are expected to generate substantial economic returns, an estimated $7.7 billion, across northern Australia.

Indigenous organisations are already playing a leading role in the sector, generating the majority of carbon credits produced through savanna fire management projects. This reflects the central role that First Nations communities continue to play in caring for country and delivering positive environmental outcomes at the same time. The income generated through these projects provides far-reaching benefits beyond emissions reduction.

It supports stable long-term employment. It strengthens Indigenous ranger programs. It funds education and training initiatives, protects cultural heritage and enables First Nations communities to continue caring for country using knowledge that has been passed down through generations.

That's why the integrity and transparency of this scheme matter. When First Nations communities invest their expertise and resources into carbon projects, they deserve confidence in that system. They deserve to know that it operates fairly and effectively.

Under the current carbon credits act, which established the scheme, carbon projects may be granted conditional registration on native title land and proceed for a period of up to seven years before the consent of native title holders is required. As Anna Boustead, CEO of the Indigenous Carbon Industry Network, has said: This legislation loophole has driven a 'land grab' of carbon projects, with hundreds of carbon projects registered over the last four years primarily by non-Indigenous carbon developers.

Many of these projects were registered without consent from Traditional Owners. This reflects findings from the independent 2022 Chubb review, which made 16 recommendations to improve the scheme. Recommendation 11 calls for amendments to the carbon farming initiative act so that ACCU projects cannot be conditionally registered on native title land without first obtaining the consent of native title holders.

Closing this loophole will bring the scheme into closer alignment with that principle of free, prior and informed consent, strengthening the rights of First Nations peoples to have a genuine say in projects that are proposed on their country, on their land. In practice, this strengthening of First Nations consent requirements means there must be consent for the project application before it is registered and consent to how it will operate before any ACCUs are used.

The bill also strikes that balance between stronger protections and practical administration. While enhancing safeguards for native title holders and claimants, it also streamlines administrative arrangements for area based emissions avoidance projects. This will reduce unnecessary regulatory burdens for eligible interest holders.

I want to take a moment to talk more about that principle: free, prior and informed consent. It's a cornerstone of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. It's also a fundamental principle guiding the Australian Greens' engagement with First Nations issues.

The Greens political party have stated that they will ensure Australia complies with those principles and all other international instruments that recognise the rights of First Nations peoples. If that commitment, that bond, that compact that the Greens political party has made is indeed genuine, then they will vote for this bill. Talk without action is the natural enemy of change, and if the Greens political party choose to tell the Australian people that this is what they believe, then they have to stump up and vote in the same way.

You cannot say it without putting your vote behind it. By strengthening requirements for free, prior and informed consent and improving the recognition of native title rights within the scheme, this legislation advances the principles contained in the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. It ensures that First Nations communities have a stronger voice in decisions affecting their country and greater control over projects undertaken on native title land.

Voting against these reforms means rejecting practical measures that give effect to that most important principle: free, prior and informed consent. Voting against these reforms means rejecting the strengthening of not only First Nations people's rights within Australia's carbon market but also the carbon market itself and the certainty that it grants to communities, First Nations peoples and, indeed, business.

I therefore urge the Greens to support this legislation. In doing so, you will be supporting stronger protections for First Nations communities, greater integrity in this scheme and the implementation of principles that you have long advocated for. This bill implements other amendments to the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative) Act.

What they have in common is enhancing that integrity and transparency of the scheme. The amendments include the evolution of the Emissions Reduction Assurance Committee into the Carbon Abatement Integrity Committee. This new body will have expanded responsibilities and a stronger focus on ensuring the integrity of the scheme as it continues to grow.

Critically, the new committee will be required to have First Nations representation, reflecting the importance that the Albanese Labor government places on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander input into the operation of the scheme. This bill also transfers the responsibility for government purchasing of ACCUs from the regulator to the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.

The reforms will also make it easier for landholders to undertake a broad range of emissions reduction activities within a single project. It will allow both carbon sequestration and unrelated emissions avoidance activities to be credited under the same project. This will support the development of more flexible framework-style approaches.

This bill also implements amendments to the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard Act to improve the administration of the new vehicle efficiency standard and to better align the operation of the scheme with its original policy intent. In particular, the amendments adjust the timing of key milestones within the new vehicle efficiency standard, including the calculation of interim emissions values and final emissions values, the timing for extinguishing liabilities and the expiry dates for NVES units.

These changes will ensure that industry participants have a full two years to use, trade or extinguish NVES units that they have earned or received through transfers from other vehicle suppliers. This provides greater certainty and greater flexibility for businesses who are participating in the scheme. The question I asked at the beginning of this speech should have a simple answer.

It should not be a partisan question. These reforms should not become a political football. To quote Anna Boustead again: Today's proposed amendments mark a meaningful shift towards recognising and protecting Indigenous rights and interests within Australia's carbon market … As I said, support for this legislation is support for strengthening integrity and transparency.

Support for this legislation is support for empowering First Nations people. Support for this legislation is support for ensuring that our carbon market continues to deliver for business, communities, First Nations people and all Australians.