Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

We must suspend standing orders because the 126,000 workers in regional Australia whose jobs will be in jeopardy if this carbon tax goes ahead deserve to be heard. What has this Prime Minister got against the manufacturing workers of our country that makes her want to destroy manufacturing by putting on our industries burdens that will not be borne by any of our competitors?

We heard a lot today from the Prime Minister about the Prime Minister of Great Britain. What she did not tell us about is the escape clause that David Cameron put in his statement the other day that, if in 2014 no other country is doing what is proposed, he will revise his targets down. What we should see is a bit of honesty from this Prime Minister, who if she was fair dinkum would say to the Australian people: 'All right, I deceived you before the election. I want to make an honest politician of myself by going to you and saying, "Give me a mandate for this tax."'

The Prime Minister says there will be compensation, but of course she has overpromised the compensation. You cannot give all of it to households and half of it to industry. The fact is that there will never be enough compensation for this carbon price, because you cannot compensate people who have lost their jobs as a result of this Prime Minister's toxic tax. The tax will be permanent, the compensation will be temporary and the tax will just go up and up. It must be $40 a tonne, according to the Greens, if it is going to drive a shift from coal to gas. It must be $100 a tonne, according to the Greens, to drive a shift from fossil fuels to renewables. We know who is running this government when it comes to this policy. It is not the Prime Minister; it is Senator Bob Brown. When the Prime Minister said, 'There will be no carbon tax under the government I lead,' did she mislead the Australian people or is the carbon tax an admission that the real Prime Minister of this country is Senator Bob Brown? The Prime Minister should get up on her feet and answer those questions. If she does not, the charge against her will be that not only did she deceive the people but also she has got no guts and she has got no ticker. (Time expired)

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