MEET THE PRESS PRESENTER, PAUL BONGIORNO: Welcome back to the program, Penny Wong. Good morning, Minister.

WONG: Good morning.

BONGIORNO: Minister, what's the latest that the Australian Government has on the two boats that are in difficulty, particularly the one in Malaysian waters?

WONG: Well, Paul, what we do know - and obviously the information is somewhat scant at the moment - but what we do know is that we have been advised of reports of two vessels in distress in both Malaysian and Indonesian waters. Obviously the operation in respect of these vessels is being led by Malaysian and Indonesian authorities, however we were asked for some assistance and the HMAS Armidale has made contact with one of the boats. The advice I have is that on that boat all people are safe. Obviously this is an unfolding situation and we only have limited details at the moment.

BONGIORNO: Minister, just briefly, do you accept any blame for these people risking their lives to come to Australia? I mean the National Party says the Government is responsible for 25 deaths.

WONG: On that, can I say it is really grossly inappropriate for what is a difficult situation to be inflamed by those sorts of comments. They really are not appropriate for a national political leader to be engaging in. This is a difficult situation. The Government has made it clear that the approach we take is one that is tough but also humane and fair. We've allocated substantial resources in the last budget to border protection. Obviously the situation around the world has meant many push factors are increasing the number of people seeking to go elsewhere and this is a situation the Government is seeking to manage.

BONGIORNO: Going to the other story of the day - the Coalition meeting to thrash out amendments. Now, there are many in the Coalition, in fact the Coalition leadership says that you are rushing things through, that there won't be enough time this year to debate these amendments. Will the Government consider extending the debating time?

WONG:  Well, the short answer to that is yes but can I come back to that. Can I first say, let's remember that every time the Coalition says this is being rushed, we've waited 12 years to take action on climate change. We recently had the 10th anniversary of the very first report on an emissions trading scheme being handed to the Howard Government. We have gone through an exhaustive process since the election when both Mr Howard and the Labor Party promised to introduce a scheme such as the one that is in the Parliament. So any discussion of delay I think needs to have that context behind it. But I do want to make clear the Government does want to make this legislation into law. We are willing to extend the sitting of the Parliament if that is what Mr Turnbull needs in order to ensure that the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme is passed.

BONGIORNO: So sitting up to Christmas if needed?

WONG: Well, what we're saying to Mr Turnbull is if you want further time to discuss this, this is a bill that we believe is in the national interest, we're willing to give you further time, if that's what you want, in order to get this legislation passed.

BONGIORNO: Well Mr Turnbull's been warned by one of his own of the risks of being double-crossed by Labor on emissions trading.

WILSON TUCKEY: If we vote for the bill with our amendments and Rudd then wins the next election, what's to stop him cancelling our amendments? You don't do deals with the likes of him.

BONGIORNO: Are you as good as your word, Minister?

WONG: Well, I am, but I think the thing we should remember when Wilson Tuckey makes yet another excuse as to why he shouldn't, or the Liberal Party shouldn't, engage with the Government on this, he doesn't support action on climate change. And everything he and other sceptics who are members of that party room are saying, every excuse they throw up, is simply an excuse not to take action on climate change. We are serious about a negotiation and of course as you know the government of the day currently we don't have the majority in the Senate. It's very unusual for governments to have the majority in the Senate. This has always been a policy where we need a sensible approach from the Opposition. Regrettably that has not been the case to date, but I look forward to seeing the amendments which undoubtedly will be passed by the party room today. Amendments we believe need to be both economically responsible and environmentally credible.

BONGIORNO: When we return with the panel - why the rush? Is it politics or good strategy for Copenhagen? And the Greens want tougher action and a bigger 40% emissions reduction target. Family First’s Steve Fielding brands them hippies who want to destroy Australia.

BOB BROWN: I've had lots of things said to me.

REPORTER: You used to be a hippy didn't you?

BOB BROWN: No, I used to be a Presbyterian. The world could do with a little more flower-power, but really, name calling is not a constructive thing for us to be engaged in and I wish Steve Fielding all the best.

BONGIORNO:  You're on Meet the Press with Climate Change Minister Penny Wong. And welcome to the panel, Marian Wilkinson, the Sydney Morning Herald. Good morning Marian.

WILKINSON: Good morning Paul.

BONGIORNO: And Malcolm Farr, the Daily Telegraph. Good morning Mal.

FARR: Good morning Paul.

BONGIORNO: The debate over climate change and the Government's emissions trading scheme has caused more problems for the Coalition than the drought has for farmers. The Opposition claims the Government is exploiting their pain for political reasons and the prime example, senior people say, is the pressure for the vote on the ETS before the Copenhagen conference in December.

JOE HOCKEY: And Kevin Rudd said in the United States in an interview recently, I don't know if you saw it, he said in defence of Barack Obama, he said, well, President Obama doesn't need to have the legislation in the United States through the US Senate in order to negotiate because I haven't got it in Australia.

FARR: Good morning Senator. The ETS might be the end of a 10 or 12 year process for you, but on most front bars and family barbecues around Australia - it's a very new issue and very difficult to get hold of. Many of these people, I'd argue, think that you're rushing this through for a deadline in Copenhagen rather than for what's in the best interests of Australia. Why haven't you more effectively explained the need for speed to ordinary Australians?

WONG: Well, apart from the 12 years you mentioned Malcolm, and the fact that both parties went to the election promising to do this, this is not a new thing. We're actually doing what we promised to do. We do need to get on with it. We have been talking about this for a long time. We know that business groups such as the Business Council of Australia, Australian Industry Group, other major companies have said they want the certainty to make the long-term investments which are needed to respond to climate change. And we also know that the more countries that are moving forward as we move into Copenhagen, the more chance the world has of getting the agreement all of us need. We absolutely believe it is in Australia's national interest for us to act on climate change. What I'd say to you is that people that I speak to, Australians, do want action on climate change, and they know that action is needed.

FARR:  But it's not the end of the process, is it? This vote. I mean, you were going to have amendments of your own to this legislation when it comes back in the next week or so, aren't you?

WONG: Look, we will wait and see what amendments are put forward by the Opposition. But I do want to be clear...

FARR: Are you going to have some of your own though?

WONG: We may or may not have technical amendments but I think the primary amendments will be those that are negotiated with the Opposition. But can I just make clear, there's some talk about amendments post Copenhagen. Copenhagen will set targets, Copenhagen will agree what collective and individual ambition is for the reduction of our carbon pollution. Copenhagen is not about the design of schemes. That's a matter for every individual country. We have put forward a scheme that is flexible enough to accommodate the outcome in Copenhagen but gives business the certainty about what sort of scheme, what sort of design, what sort of assistance, will be provided. And all that delay will do Malcolm is increase the costs. What we know - the Treasury modelling shows - is that those countries which delay making these investment in fact increase their own costs. That's not an economically responsible approach.

BONGIORNO: The Queensland and Victorian premiers believe the ETS offered by you doesn't give enough transitional support to the coal and power industries.

JOHN BRUMBY: We've made no secret of our position that we want a scheme which ensures energy security for our state and I think it would be fair to say that NSW would be in a similar position and that there may need to be some changes to some arrangements.

WILKINSON: Minister, you know what Mr Brumby and in fact other premiers are saying is that Australia could face energy security problems and that means basically power failures or black-outs. Now, the Prime Minister said he thought there was a scare campaign going on over this. Is there a scare campaign or in fact are you looking at a package for generators?

WONG: Can I say first we're at the very business end, I suppose, of this whole process, which has been going on now for almost a couple of years in designing this scheme. And no doubt we are going to see various people, various interest groups, seeking more assistance. We've designed...

WILKINSON: Are they pushing a scare campaign?

WONG: We are focused on the national interest. There are others who are going to put very strongly their argument as to why they should receive more assistance but we have to focus on what we think is right for Australia and that ensures everybody does their bit to respond to climate change. So it is not just one part of the Australian community that is actually doing the work to reduce their emissions. We are very focused on ensuring energy security, that is why we have put forward a package of very substantial assistance to the energy sector. As you know, we announced the adjustments scheme with the White Paper last year, so we are serious about this.

WILKINSON: But is there more? Is there more? And one of them has asked that you actually buy out Hazelwood, the dirtiest, most polluting power station in Australia. Will you think about doing that?

WONG: On Hazelwood, I think I've been asked about that before. That's certainly been raised with the Government previously. And the Government's package is the one that's on the table and that is in the legislation, which is the assistance under the Electricity Sector Adjustment Scheme, which is about ensuring energy security which was looked at by the energy market regulators. And they indicated that it significantly reduced the risk of any problems. This is the package the Government is putting forward.

FARR: Minister, you're just back from China. Are the Chinese as enthusiastic about climate change measures as you are?

WONG: Well in fact, I think to be fair to China, China is in fact implementing a great many domestic policies on climate change. They're investing probably more in renewable energy than any other nation. They have their own domestic targets and the President, President Hu Jintao, at the New York event, which world leaders including the Prime Minister attended, flagged even further sets of policies. What I would say about my visit to China is this. I think the level of access, for example the meeting with the Vice Premier Li, as well as the content of what was discussed, really shows that China is serious about acting on climate change. It shows this is an important issue to them. That is a good thing for China, but it is also a good thing for international negotiations.

WILKINSON: Minister, if you don't get these amendments through or you don't get a deal with the Opposition by the end of this year, the end of the session, do you think we won't have anything until after the next election in Australia on ETS?

WONG: I'm focused on trying to get this legislation through Marian. I've been waiting, the Government's been waiting, a very long time to have this discussion with Mr Turnbull and his front bench. We've been asking them for their amendments. Remember, this is legislation that's has been public since March. So we are focused on doing what we said we would do, which is to engage in a good faith negotiation, very much focused on the national interest, and that is passing this legislation.

FARR: You need Malcolm Turnbull don’t you? It might hurt but you need Malcolm Turnbull, don't you?

WONG: Well we certainly need Mr Turnbull to support the legislation if we're going to get it through the Senate, given the current configuration of the Senate. That's been pretty self-evident for some time. We look forward to having a discussion. What we're saying is that the amendments will have to be economically responsible and environmentally credible. I think Australians would expect that of the Opposition and that is the way in which we'll be looking at them.

BONGIORNO: Minister just briefly, before we go, if the legislation goes down, there's really no option is there but for the Prime Minister to take this to an election?

WONG: I think that's a hurdle into the future that I don't want to sort of speculate about Paul. I mean, we're not focused on an election, we're focused on getting this legislation through. Kevin's made that clear.
BONGIORNO:  (inaudible)
WONG: We're focused on getting the legislation through. We have said all along we want the legislation passed. This is not about a double dissolution election. This is about doing the right thing by Australia, that is acting on climate change, delivering on the commitment we made to the Australian people, and what Australians have asked for, which is to take action.

BONGIORNO: Thank you very much for being with us this morning, Penny Wong.

ENDS