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

they may not be committed to a particular target. Let me in total good faith, through you, Mr Speaker, engage the member for Kingsford Smith in this issue. You can believe that, as part of the architecture of dealing with climate change, you should commit to a target before you have actually decided what that target is and quite sensibly decide that, before you commit to a specific target, you find out what it means. That essentially is the difference between this side of the of House and the other side of the House. We both accept the need for a target but, unlike those who sit opposite, those on this side of the House say that you have got to work out what a specific target means before you commit.

I can say this in relation to Senator McCain and many of the other people that you have referred to.

See this speech in context