Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

and Qantas said they had to absorb overwhelmingly the cost of the carbon tax. If businesses need to absorb the cost of the carbon tax, it increases the cost of production, it reduces the profitability of the business and then people start to look to invest elsewhere. It is a no-brainer.

The Labor Party does not understand that, if you keep laying taxes and more regulation on Australian businesses, sooner or later they will look for cheaper places to go and work: they will look into Asia; they will look into other parts of the world where there is no carbon tax, where there is no excessive regulation, where there is no union militancy, where there is an environment that is conducive to investment and growth.

The fact is the coalition knows this. We know that the best way to remain competitive, the best way to meet head-on the challenges of the world, is to reduce the cost of doing business in Australia—get rid of the carbon tax, get rid of the mining tax, get rid of the regulation. The Labor Party want to keep all the impediments to business growth and then they want to cry crocodile tears when people go and invest elsewhere and turn away from Australia. I say to the Labor Party: get real—if you want to really help production in Australia, get rid of the carbon tax.

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