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

I want to thank the member for Bonner, who went to the last election with a very simple proposition: to fight to remove the carbon tax to reduce electricity prices for his constituents. But it is also a pleasure, may I say, to finally receive another question on the environment from our side. I believe that is 30 questions so far on the environment from our side of the House and none—nothing on dugongs and turtles, nothing on Reef Trust, nothing on Green Army, nothing on the Murray-Darling Basin agreement.

But let me deal precisely with the issue of reducing electricity costs by removing a tax which does not work, because, like the Prime Minister, we have been doing our research. Today, I came across a very interesting newsletter. The newsletter is dated 'Winter 2013, Issue No. 2' and is 'Community News, Mark Butler MP, Federal Member for Port Adelaide'. And do you know what it says? Not just once but twice, it has a headline 'Carbon tax terminated'. It is not in future tense, not intention, but past tense: done, finished, complete. He asked me to read out. I would very happily read out the quote. Here is what the member for Port Adelaide says, quoting the then Prime Minister:

The government has decided to terminate the carbon tax to help cost-of-living pressures for families and to reduce costs for small business.

In other words, all of this talk about what a great and wondrous measure it is is belied by the fact that in winter last year—

Ms Kate Ellis interjecting —

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