Greg Combet (Charlton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency) Share this | Hansard source

As I was saying, the government will be announcing the details of the carbon price. It will cut pollution, it will drive investment in clean energy and it will provide strong support for households and jobs.

This morning the government's plan to put a price on carbon pollution received more support from the business community. Companies like AGL, Fujitsu, Ikea and General Electric, and 51 others, are now part of an organisation called Businesses for a Clean Economy, and in a statement released today these and a host of other businesses stated:

As major Australian and international corporations and representative associations operating across the Australian economy we strongly support the introduction of a well designed carbon price to support the transition to a low-carbon economy.

Those companies, which are major corporations operating within our economy, know, along with every credible economist, that putting a price on carbon pollution is the cheapest and most cost-effective way of cutting pollution. Of course, it is not a tax on households; it is a charge that will be paid by fewer than 1,000 of the largest polluters in the economy for every tonne of pollution that they produce.

The carbon price will be good for the economy and it will be good for the environment, whilst households will be assisted to meet the modest cost impacts of the introduction of a carbon price. Nine out of 10 households will get some combination of tax cuts and increased payments. Pensioners will benefit from an increase in the pension. Many self-funded retirees will receive assistance equal to the extra payments that we will provide to other pensioners, part pensioners and carers. At least three million households will also get a 20 per cent buffer over and above the average price impacts of the carbon price to give them that bit of extra cash. Families, tradespeople and of course small businesses with light commercial vehicles will not face a fuel price rise as a result of the introduction of a carbon price. These are very important commitments to accompany the introduction of the carbon price in our economy.

Households should also be very clear that the Leader of the Opposition intends taking all of these rises in the pension, intends clawing back the tax cuts, intends taking back all of the assistance—

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