Climate Change Minister Penny Wong says the release of the government's green paper on emissions trading was not deliberately timed to coincide with the historic visit by Pope Benedict XVI.
The paper was released last Wednesday, when much of the country - and the media - was distracted by the Pope's visit to Sydney and by World Youth Day events.
"To be honest that certainly wasn't top of (our) mind, Laurie, when we set the date," Senator Wong told the Nine Network's Laurie Oakes today.
She said the timing was motivated by wanting to get the green paper out quickly so consultation could begin.
"Really, we were much driven by ... the need to get the green paper out so that stakeholders such as business could consider the design proposals in that," Senator Wong said.
Delaying the release of the green paper to avoid the Pope's visit would have been problematic, she said.
"Perhaps a couple of weeks down the track people might have said that we hadn't given people enough time on it," she said.
The green paper has caused some political pain for the government as households and businesses learnt more about how much they might have to pay under emissions trading.