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

I thank the member for Blair once more, because, sadly, there has been a litany of bizarre and ridiculous claims made by the Leader of the Opposition and other members of the coalition. First and foremost amongst them, of course, is the claim by the Leader of the Opposition that hundreds of thousands of jobs would be lost as a consequence of the carbon price coming in. But what do the labour force figures tell us? More than 130,000 jobs have been created in our economy since carbon pricing began. They said there would be unimaginable price increases—absolutely unimaginable prices increases, the Leader of the Opposition claimed. Inflation is under control; interest rates have come down by 500 basis points. How can you account for these claims—a senior political figure in this country making these ridiculous claims?

How about the coal industry? There is still a very strong pipeline of investment coming into coal. It is extremely important in my region in the Hunter. But, of course, the Leader of the Opposition claimed that it will be the end of the coal industry, that it would be completely destroyed. It would be absolute Armageddon. And do not forget towns being wiped off the map. Employment is up in Whyalla. Remember that he claimed Olympic Dam investment was deferred because of carbon pricing, and then confessed on the 7.30 program that he had never read the company update, which did not mention carbon pricing. This is absurd from a senior political figure. He misrepresented electricity bills in this parliament—absolutely ludicrous from the coalition. (Time expired)

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