John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

It is true that we have not ratified Kyoto, because to ratify Kyoto would not be in Australia’s interests. The truth is that this government is composed of a lot of people who are sceptical about certain things. They are sceptical about knee-jerk environmental solutions that would damage the jobs of coal miners in Australia. They are sceptical about responses to climate change that would put Australia at a competitive disadvantage with the rest of the world. They are also sceptical about ruling out solutions that are clearly in the long-term interests of this country. Let me say to the climate change purists, or the climate change fanatics, on the other side: the cleanest and greenest energy source of all is the one you will not look at, and that is nuclear power. It is the cleanest and the greenest, and those who sit opposite will not look at it. I am a sceptic, yes. I am sceptical about the capacity of the Australian Labor Party to provide an answer to this great challenge that does not damage the long-term interests of the Australian economy.

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