House debates

Monday, 22 November 2010

Questions without Notice

Carbon Pricing

2:12 pm

Photo of Warren TrussWarren Truss (Wide Bay, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer the Prime Minister to her statement a week before polling day when she declared, ‘There will be no carbon tax under the government I lead.’ I also refer the Prime Minister to the fact that the Greens have long supported a carbon tax. Isn’t the government’s deception on this issue during the election proof that, while the government has lost its way, the Greens have found theirs inside the Gillard government?

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

I thank the member for his question. It is not clear to me whether he slept through the parliamentary term 2007 to 2010 or he has simply forgotten it, but if he remembered that parliamentary term he would recall that the question of pricing carbon was probably one of the biggest single debates we had in this parliament. Obviously, our overwhelming Work Choices was also a very big debate. As we worked through our way through the question of pricing carbon, those on the opposition benches had every potential position known to humankind. They believed in climate change, they did not believe in climate change; they believed in pricing carbon, they did not believe in pricing carbon; they believed in a market based mechanism, they preferred a tax—and on and on it went. Courtesy of the member for Wentworth, we finally found out what was driving all of this division within the opposition.

Photo of Christopher PyneChristopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training) Share this | | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, a point of order on direct relevance: the Prime Minister was asked about the government’s change in policy, not about the opposition side of the House. She should address her answer to that question.

Photo of Harry JenkinsHarry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | | Hansard source

Order! The Manager of Opposition Business will resume his seat. The Prime Minister will respond to the question.

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

I am responding to the question by indicating the process that led to where we are now with the creation of the Multi-Party Climate Change Committee. In understanding that, it is important to understand the twists and turns of the opposition on this. We finally worked out, courtesy of the member for Wentworth and his description of the Leader of the Opposition as a ‘weathervane’, that the Leader of the Opposition’s version of dealing with climate change is that you go outside, you stick your finger up in the wind and you see which way the political winds are blowing and then you decide what you are going to do about climate change.

We do not agree that weathervane focus-group-driven politics is appropriate—the kind subscribed to by the Leader of the Opposition—so we are seizing the opportunity of this new parliament to bring together people of goodwill, who believe climate change is real, who believe that human activity is causing climate change and who believe in the need to price carbon in order to deal with climate change and in order to meet the carbon emissions reduction targets that are actually bipartisan politics in this parliament.

We will keep doing that, and I say to the member who asked the question: if he has a serious interest in tackling climate change he should converse with his leader about putting his finger back outside, testing the political winds and finding that the Australian people are actually looking to us to do something responsible in this place. You would have the opportunity to then participate in the Multi-Party Climate Change Committee.