Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Minister for the Environment) Share this | Hansard source

The trucking tax is part of their policy. Here is a chance for the Leader of the Opposition or any other member to rule out once and for all what they took to the election. Do they stand by the new trucking tax, which will hurt small businesses and owner-operators, or will they rule it out? We know also when we look at the situation of Clean Brite, which has been affected by higher electricity prices, that it is part of a $4 billion hit on electricity prices around the country, according to the Clean Energy Regulator. Those electricity prices are felt by mums and dads, pensioners, seniors, small business owners and large-business owners. That is why the Australian Industry Group, the Business Council, the Minerals Council and ACCI have all called for the removal of the carbon tax immediately.

So the question goes to whether or not there are any obstacles. At the moment in the Senate there is a filibuster going on. What we see is that the friends from the Labor Party are debating the carbon tax bills by dividing them, by splitting them, by amending them, by seeking to have them run well beyond Christmas, so as to take away the removal of the electricity price benefit which would come when these carbon tax bills are gone. Right now, there is an obstacle to the carbon tax. It sits in front of us. It sits in the Senate. As the Treasurer set out, even the South Australian government is banking the savings for better health, better education and better police services by removing the carbon tax.

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