Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

The comments from the BCA are dated 10 August. I just draw that to the honourable gentleman’s attention. Can I also say that there is a wider problem which those opposite have—if it is their policy, depending on what day of the week it is—because they would be embarking upon a model which has not been embraced by the G8 economies. The G8 leaders in July specifically endorsed cap-and-trade schemes and committed to increasing cooperation to expand carbon markets and to align trading schemes.

I also say to those opposite that they would be embarking upon a course of action whereby you have this Liberal Party magic pudding scheme on the one hand and then Australia, the United States, New Zealand, the European Union all moving in the other direction when it comes to a cap and trade. So you have the G8 come out and specifically endorse a cap-and-trade approach. You have the major economies of Europe, the United States, Australia and New Zealand—our part of the world—moving in the direction of a cap and trade, and this is of vital importance because you need international connectedness between systems. Those opposite perhaps have not thought about that as well.

I go back to a fundamental point, which is called consistency of policy. Those opposite are now embarking upon this alternative model, it seems, if in fact it is their policy, but prior to the last election we had this statement from the Leader of the Opposition:

Speaking on behalf of the Liberal Party—

and I assume he was the Liberal Party environment minister at the time—

we have committed to a cap and trade emissions trading scheme.

That is what the Liberal Party committed to prior to the last election and then the gentleman who has just asked the question, the member for Goldstein, said on 9 November 2008:

We support a cap and trade scheme.

Member for Goldstein, if you said on 9 November 2008, ‘We support a cap-and-trade scheme,’ how could you therefore stand up in the House today and support a non-cap-and-trade scheme?

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