Bob Baldwin (Paterson, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Tourism) Share this | Hansard source

There are none so deaf as those who refuse to listen and none so blind who refuse to see. This government has not listened to the community and it has not seen the impact of its carbon tax. Today Kurri Hydro put out a press release referring to the cancellation of work contracts, saying, '344 further jobs to go.' And further:

… the long-term viability will be negatively affected by a number of factors including increasing energy costs and the carbon tax.

The carbon tax is going to cost the aluminium sector jobs in the Hunter. There are none so blind as the member for Charlton, the Minister for Industry and Innovation—the architect of the carbon tax. And there are none so deaf as the member for Hunter, whose electorate Kurri Hydro resides in, and none so arrogant as those who refuse to act. I am calling on those members in the Hunter to immediately move a motion to suspend the carbon tax, to have an opportunity to save those 344 jobs—and that is not counting the downstream effect that these job losses will incur. The aluminium industry is critically important to the Hunter. The flow-on effect could go through to Tomago Aluminium as well, and that means more job losses. Members opposite do not care about job losses; they care about their carbon tax. I am more interested in the people that I represent. Therefore, the carbon tax should be stopped. (Time expired)

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