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

Lesson No. 1: do not let the member for Flinders give you a handwritten question. Lesson No. 2: on carbon pricing, what we always said on this side of politics was that putting a price on carbon would increase electricity prices by 10 per cent and we would assist families with those increased costs—and we did.

On the other side of politics, the Leader of the Opposition ran around the country on a crazed fear campaign, saying people would not have a job, Whyalla would be wiped off the map, there would be astronomical increases in the cost of living, and members of the opposition were telling us that a lamb roast would cost $100—ridiculous stuff. Ridiculous, mendacious claims from the Leader of the Opposition. Well, now he stands here with all of those claims proven to be untrue. With other conservatives around the world embracing putting a price on carbon as the most efficient way of reducing carbon pollution, there he is with his turkey of a policy that he cannot explain and that does not add up. This government stands for reducing carbon pollution in the most cost-effective way, whereas the Leader of the Opposition stands for shovelling huge burdens to pay for his ridiculous policy onto Australian families.

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