Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

Yes, Mr Speaker, this is a very serious issue which deserves a serious response from those opposite, and there is not one forthcoming. We on this side of the House have put forward a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme; we have had a green paper; we have had a white paper; we have had legislation; we have got the RET through. But what the country needs is certainty. The business community needs certainty to drive investment. It is absolutely critical to recovery and it is absolutely critical to prosperity in this economy for the long term.

Earlier today, I think, the former Leader of the Opposition had a few things to say about the need for the Liberal Party to stand for something. Mr Speaker, they should stand for business certainty, they should stand for a low pollution economy, they should stand for investment and they should stand for green jobs. They should do all of those things, but because they are stuck in the past, because they are incapable of taking a decision, because they are a divided rabble in the parliament, the country cannot get the certainty it needs and those opposite are frustrating important legislation that goes to the very core of our future prosperity.

See this speech in context