House debates
Wednesday, 16 September 2015
Questions without Notice
Climate Change
2:16 pm
Mark Butler (Port Adelaide, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Water) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
My question is again to the current Prime Minister. The Australian Industry Group has calculated that achieving the government's 2030 emission reduction targets through government payments under the Emissions Reduction Fund would cost between $100 billion and $250 billion. Does the current Prime Minister consider $250 billion an appropriate price to pay to keep the National Party and the right-wing extremists happy, just to achieve his lifelong ambition to become Prime Minister?
Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
Before I call the Prime Minister, he will ignore the last part of the question. I call the Prime Minister.
Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Minister for Communications) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
The honourable member really should be able to do better than this.
Mr Perrett interjecting—
Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Minister for Communications) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
Let me tell the honourable member what the Australian people hate.
Mr Champion interjecting—
Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
The member for Wakefield will cease interjecting.
Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Minister for Communications) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
They hate these sorts of slogans or zingers. They want to have a serious debate. What the honourable member does is put up a premise which obviously we do not accept, so the answer is: we do not accept that premise. The commitments under the Emissions Reduction Fund are capped; the honourable member knows that. So this is just an attempt to get a little grab of himself with a slogan. If he really cared about the issue, why wouldn't he actually make the case, put the analysis in a debate and take on the environment minister—actually take on his counterpart. But no. He is only interested in his little bit of the question getting on the television. Really, the Australian people want us to deal with these issues seriously. If he wants to make a case that the government's policy cannot achieve what we have said it will or that it has not achieved what we have said it will, then he should make that case rather than throwing out there absurd numbers which he knows have no basis in reality.