Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

The member for Wentworth—former Leader of the Opposition, until torn down. The member for North Sydney said that a vote on climate change is just a 'matter of conscience'. This government knows that, whoever is in charge, they will have to put a price on carbon. The opposition would have you believe that, if they were to come to power, nothing will change, that we can be frozen in the moment, like true conservatives. The government understands that whoever is in charge of this nation they have an obligation not to betray the leadership entrusted in them by the people. Real leadership does not always involve telling people what they want to hear. Real leadership means dealing with issues.

Business know and the Australian people know that, if you tell people you can pretend but you never have to change, that is a deception which betrays the trust Australians have in their political leaders. Let us be clear. The Economic Intelligence Unit, a private organisation, has done a survey of Australian business and found that 50 per cent of Australian businesses have already anticipated moving to a low-carbon future and that 70 per cent of Australian businesses are already putting in place measures to reduce their carbon footprint.

The good news is that Australian business and the government are not waiting for the opposition to get on board and join the 21st century. The Australian Industry Group and the Business Council of Australia support a price on carbon. I suppose those opposite would rubbish the CEO of the National Australia Bank as some sort of mad, left-winger. He is not. He said that the Labor plan 'will drive certainty and investment'. 'What would the CEO of one of Australia's largest banks know about investment?' those opposite would cry. My money is on backing their judgment about what drives investment rather than that of those economic witchdoctors of the opposition economics team. Then you have to look at other companies.

Opposition members interjecting—

As much as the opposition wish to interject and wish it were not so, the truth of the matter is that Shell, BP, AGL, Alstom, Rio Tinto, Origin, Grocon—all massive Australian companies involved in heavy industry—say—

Mr McCormack interjecting—

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