Whish-Wilson, Sen Peter

Senator WHISH-WILSON: But how are you going to assess that as a department? I'll rephrase that: how will the department assess it? You've got $12 million over three years. At the end of those three years, will you be in a position, from a regulatory point of view, to say, 'Yes, you can proceed with this project because under the safeguard we're comfortable that you'll meet your scope 1 emissions, because this works.' Ms Quinn : Stepping back, the review that we're doing is around the environmental management regime, which is the obligation of this department. That clearly has to nest with the environmental obligations and the emission-reduction obligations. There's a three-legged stool that comes together in terms of the regulation. We're focused on the environmental component of the offshore petroleum and greenhouse gas storage. Your question goes to political and social acceptance, scientific acceptance et cetera. There are other experts in the field who can provide those answers. Carbon capture and storage is being used in other parts of the world with different regulatory regimes, and, as you know, some things are transferable and some things are not.