Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Finance and Deregulation) Share this | Hansard source

People will recall the many occasions on which this chamber, in its committees and in here, has debated the issue of pricing carbon. This country has gone through some two decades worth of consultation. We have worked with industry and with environment groups; there has been negotiation, and many years of scientific work and inquiry. Today's vote represents, I think, a clear divide in Australian politics between those who are focused on the past and those who look to the future, those who are optimistic and look ahead and those who are mired in the fear campaigns of today, those who want action on climate change and those who have always been more comfortable with the sceptics. Really, underlying the policy position of the other side is that they just do not want to accept that the science is real, and they never have.