Rowan Ramsey (Grey, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

This Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme Bill 2010 and related bills are amended versions of the bills we last saw in this House. On that occasion I did not support the bill and while I acknowledge the amendments as an improvement, if anything my opposition to the bill has increased since that time. My opposition has increased because having spent the last two months back in my electorate, and as the full ramifications of the bill slowly trickle down to individuals and industries in our local communities and the impacts on our economy are slowly factored in, it is becoming increasingly obvious that there is an absolute distrust for, and noncomprehension of, the scheme. In short, my constituents simply do not understand how the Kevin Rudd-Penny Wong ETS works.

While the member for Braddon is still in the chamber with us, he mentioned that we on this side of the chamber did not understand how the scheme worked despite the fact we had the green paper, the white paper and then the bill. In fact, the problem the member for Braddon and the government have on this issue is not that I should be able to explain their scheme but that they themselves have been incapable of explaining it to the people of Australia. This is because the government has failed to take the public into its confidence and has failed to explain the issue to them. I join those who quote former Prime Minister Keating in saying, ‘If you don’t understand it, don’t vote for it. If you do understand it, you’d never vote for it.’

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