Jason Clare (Blaxland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Home Affairs ) Share this | Hansard source

Last week the Leader of the Opposition, in his party room, said that every time we talk about jobs or the economy they are going to talk about 'carbon tax'. In other words, the scare campaign continues. Let us have a look at this scare campaign. Remember those bold predictions we had last year, that it was going to 'wipe Whyalla off the map'? Or that it was going to be the 'economic death' of the steel industry? It was all nonsense—not real. My favourite one—the one I always remember—came in June last year, when the Leader of the Opposition said that the carbon price would be 'the death of the coal industry'. The best way to find out if this is the truth or not is to follow the money; look at the investments that have been made in the coal industry since we announced the carbon price or since the Leader of the Opposition made those statements. Has it gone up or has it gone down? According to the Bureau of Statistics, in the year to September spending on coal exploration has jumped 167 per cent. But it gets better than that.

Mr Frydenberg interjecting—

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