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

Yes, I will, Deputy Speaker. I know, of course, that you cannot in front of this opposition bring a fact into the building—they get hysterical. So we will deal with their misleading about Brindabella Airlines at the end of question time. But I do draw people's attention to the press release.

On the question that I have been asked—which, when we look into it, I am sure will turn out to be equally misleading, because that is what the opposition does on carbon pricing—as the shadow Treasurer would be aware, we have spoken to the Australian people about local government and carbon pricing: about the very, very modest impact and about how the impact on rates has been modelled into the anticipated price rises of 0.7 per cent. That is less than a dollar in a $100.

Of course, what the shadow Treasurer does not want to tell Australians is that the assistance that is being made available—the payments for 3.2 million pensioners, the family payment increases for 1.5 million, the tax reduction, and the shadow Treasurer has been very clear about this—all of these things will be taken away by the shadow Treasurer. Money ripped out of the hands of working Australians raising children; money ripped out of the hands of Australians who are benefiting from a triple tax-free threshold; money ripped out of the hands of pensioners, and many of them better off as a result of the assistance that is being received.

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