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

We have always been clear about that, that big polluters would pay the price and by paying that price they would have the incentives they need to act to reduce the carbon pollution that they emit. We have also been very clear with Australian families—and I said this when I first outlined the carbon pricing mechanism to the Australian community—that there will be price impacts that flow through to Australian households. That is why we will use the majority of the revenue raised from pricing carbon to assist Australian households with those impacts, to generously assist Australian families who need that assistance the most. And we will use the remainder of the revenue to protect Australian jobs and to fund programs which help our move to being a clean energy economy. As Professor Garnaut says, the Leader of the Opposition's plan is about putting costs directly onto the shoulders of Australian taxpayers—that is, onto the shoulders of Australian families without any compensation at all.

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