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

I thank the member for Leichhardt for his question, because he represents a part of the Great Barrier Reef which, if we were to see temperature rises go through the roof, would ultimately be destroyed. That is not just an environmental catastrophe; it is also an economic catastrophe because we have tens of thousands of Queenslanders employed in the tourism industry on the Great Barrier Reef.

I noticed the other day, by the way, that the Leader of the Opposition said that, if the worst case scenario put out by scientists on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change were to come to pass and we were to see global temperature increases of the order of four degrees Centigrade, it did not represent any big moral challenge for the future. Can I say that, if we saw temperature increases like that, as far as the Barrier Reef is concerned, frankly, it would be destroyed beyond recognition. That is why I welcome the question from the member for Leichhardt.

We all sat there today in anticipation of what alternative plan would be put forward by the opposition on climate change. It has been a long time coming. The government put forward its proposal at the end of 2008, and until about five weeks ago it had the majority support of those opposite, and then they removed the then Leader of the Opposition. When we listen to what was put forward today, it was a pretty interesting presentation indeed. The Leader of the Opposition has described climate change as ‘absolute crap’. Those are his words, not mine. He said that climate change is absolute crap and he has confirmed that view today in that the proposal he has put forward is nothing more than a climate con job. This is a climate con job, absolute and final. It does less, it costs more and, by definition, it will mean higher taxes. Let us go through these in order.

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