Appendix 1

Appendix 1

Terms of Reference

That a select committee, to be known as the Select Committee on Fuel and Energy, be established to inquire into and report by 21 October 2009 on:

  1. the impact of higher petroleum, diesel and gas prices on:

    1. families,

    2. small business,

    3. rural and regional Australia,

    4. grocery prices, and

    5. key industries, including but not limited to tourism and transport;

  2. the role and activities of the Petrol Commissioner, including whether the Petrol Commissioner reduces the price of petroleum;

  3. the operation of the domestic petroleum, diesel and gas markets, including the fostering of maximum competition and provision of consumer information;

  4. the impact of an emissions trading scheme on the fuel and energy industry, including but not limited to:

    1. prices,

    2. employment in the fuel and energy industries, and any related adverse impacts on regional centres reliant on these industries,

    3. domestic energy supply, and

    4. future investment in fuel and energy infrastructure;

  5. the existing set of state government regulatory powers as they relate to petroleum, diesel and gas products;

  6. taxation arrangements on petroleum, diesel and gas products including:

    1. Commonwealth excise,

    2. the goods and services tax, and

    3. new state and federal taxes;

  7. the role of alternative fuels to petroleum and diesel, including but not limited to: LPG, LNG, CNG, gas to liquids, coal to liquids, electricity and bio-fuels such as, but not limited to, ethanol;

  8. the domestic oil/gas exploration and refinement industry, with particular reference to:

    1. the impact of Commonwealth, state and local government regulations on this industry,

    2. increasing domestic oil/gas exploration and refinement activities, with a view to reducing Australia's reliance on imported oil, and

    3. other tax incentives; and

  9. the impact of higher petroleum, diesel and gas prices on public transport systems, including the adequacy of public transport infrastructure and record of public transport investment by state governments.

Appointment of the Committee

That the committee consist of 8 members, 2 nominated by the Leader of the Government in the Senate, 4 nominated by the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, 1 nominated by the Leader of Family First in the Senate and 1 nominated by any minority group or independent senator.

  1. On the nominations of the Leader of the Government in the Senate, the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate and any minority group and independent senators, participating members may be appointed to the committee;

  2. participating members may participate in hearings of evidence and deliberations of the committee, and have all the rights of members of committee, but may not vote on any questions before the committee; and

  3. a participating member shall be taken to be a member of the committee for the purpose of forming a quorum of the committee if a majority of members of the committee is not present.

That the committee may proceed to the dispatch of business notwithstanding that not all members have been duly nominated and appointed and notwithstanding any vacancy.

That the committee elect an Opposition member as its chair.

That the chair of the committee may, from time to time, appoint another member of the committee to be the deputy chair of the committee, and that the member so appointed act as chair of the committee at any time when there is no chair or the chair is not present at a meeting of the committee.

That, in the event of an equally divided vote, the chair, or the deputy chair when acting as chair, have a casting vote.

That the committee have power to appoint subcommittees consisting of 4 or more of its members and to refer to any subcommittee any matter which the committee is empowered to examine.

That the committee and any subcommittee have power to send for and examine persons and documents, to move from place to place, to sit in public or in private, notwithstanding any prorogation of the Parliament or dissolution of the House of Representatives, and have leave to report from time to time its proceedings and the evidence taken and interim recommendations.

That the committee be provided with all necessary staff, facilities and resources and be empowered to appoint persons with specialist knowledge for the purposes of the committee with the approval of the President.

That the committee be empowered to print from day to day such documents and evidence as may be ordered by it, and a daily Hansard be published of such proceedings as take place in public.

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