Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his reference to the Garnaut review, which Professor Garnaut gave me earlier today and about which he has been speaking at the National Press Club. I have the review in my hand. It is the product of seven months work and I think we should thank Professor Garnaut for it as an Australian parliament and as an Australian nation. I do not anticipate that everybody will agree with every view put forward by Professor Garnaut, but that should not stop us actually thanking him for his work and respecting him in his professionalism in doing it. In answer to the Leader of the Opposition's question, given he has talked about the question of cost, yes, Professor Garnaut makes some observations about costs. There is one on page 77 of this report and it uses the terminology 'direct action', as the Leader of the Opposition would use to refer to his policy. I would refer to it as a policy in which polluters are subsidised. But Professor Garnaut says this:

Using direct action measures to achieve similar amounts of emissions reduction would raise costs—

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