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

Here in Australia we can actually judge the impact of carbon pricing by what has happened. We can judge the impact directly by what has happened since carbon pricing came into effect. What we know is that, since carbon pricing came into effect, we are seeing reductions in emissions—that is, it is working to cut carbon pollution; we have seen the number of jobs grow—158,000 jobs have been added to the economy since the introduction of the carbon price; and we have seen investment continue not only in resources but also in other sectors of our economy.

We know what the impact on cost of living is. That is already being experienced. In stark contrast to the fearmongering of the Leader of the Opposition during the days of carbon pricing, when he claimed that there would be an astronomical increase in the cost of living, what has actually happened is exactly what was predicted—which means of course that when we have put in place tax cuts, family payments increases and the pension increase, these have assisted families and, particularly for many families in low- and middle-income situations, they have received more assistance than they need to deal with cost-of-living impacts.

So there is no need to theorise about all of this; we actually know what carbon pricing means in our economy. It means economic growth continues. It means the number of jobs continues to grow. It means investments continue to grow. It means that the cost-of-living impacts are exactly what was predicted, which means that many millions of families are in fact better off.

What is less clear and less known, of course, is the impact of the opposition's so-called direct action policy, where there can be penalties put on firms which would inevitably be passed through to consumers and hit their cost of living, and where you do not know how big the impact will be on our economy as a result of the uncertainty that will be generated. What we do know is that the Leader of the Opposition and the shadow minister who asked the question are promising a world of uncertainty for Australian businesses and families whereas, under this government, Australian businesses and families know that carbon pricing is working and that none of the fear campaign led by the Leader of the Opposition has in any way come true. The Leader of the Opposition has been unmasked as simply not credible whenever he speaks about carbon pricing.

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