Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer the Prime Minister to the former Prime Minister’s statement from the leaked minutes of the Labor caucus that the failure to secure action on climate change was one of the three great failures of this government. Does the current Prime Minister agree with the former Prime Minister that this was not his failure alone but hers too? Why did the current Prime Minister advise the former Prime Minister to dump the emissions trading scheme?

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

I thank the Deputy Leader of the Opposition for her question and believe she must be suffering some form of short-term amnesia, because of course the thing that wrecked the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme was the action of the Leader of the Opposition. The thing that prevented the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme going through this parliament was the Leader of the Opposition, as a weathervane without any convictions on the question, going outside, putting his finger up in the political wind and saying, ‘Which way is it blowing today?’ and then deciding, having done that, that the time was right for him to unseat the then Leader of the Opposition on the basis that he would run a scare campaign about climate change. Now to the extent that you can diagnose any underlying beliefs of the Leader of the Opposition in this coming and going, this set of inconsistent statements, this weathervane conduct of the Leader of the Opposition—and weathervane is not my term; it is the term of one of his most senior frontbench colleagues, the member for Wentworth—they appear to be that climate change is not real.

Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, on a point of order: the caucus minutes say that it was strong advice from Julia to dump the emissions trading scheme policy.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! What is the point of order?

Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am asking why.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What is the point of order?

Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Why did she give that advice?

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The Deputy Leader of the Opposition will resume her seat.

Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is relevance, Mr Speaker.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Deputy Leader will come directly to her point of order.

Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I was coming to the point of order.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You have made your point of order now: relevance.

Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is actually direct relevance we are looking for now. The Prime Minister is responding.

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

Thank you very much, Mr Speaker, and I could not have been asked a more broadly based question than the one I was asked and, as a result of the assertions in the question, the answer I am giving is entirely relevant. Of course the truth is that this nation would have a carbon pollution reduction scheme if the Liberal Party had honoured its agreements. But it is a political party without honour and that was proved in the last parliamentary term. It enters agreements and then it walks away from those agreements.

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Prime Minister will resume her seat. The member for Dunkley will come to the dispatch box and withdraw his remark.

Bruce Billson (Dunkley, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Small Business, Competition Policy and Consumer Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I withdraw.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Fairly insensitive on a day like today I think, Leader of the Opposition, and I simply say to the member for Cowan and the Manager of Opposition Business that they are both warned. I would hope that some people in the place would actually have a complete understanding of what they are doing and when they make contributions of up to 100 words in an answer by way of interjection they should be fully aware of what they are doing.

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

So because of this dishonourable conduct by the Liberal Party withdrawing its agreement after it was made, the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme in agreed form did not pass the parliament. That is the history. If the Deputy Leader of the Opposition is searching for who is responsible for that, she could try looking in the mirror, she could try talking to the Leader of the Opposition, she could try turning to her colleagues and talking to those who determined that they wanted to wreck the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme and engage in fearmongering. That is, they wanted to serve their political interest instead of the national interest.

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

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

Against that history—and the member for Indi is making a contribution of the quality she is known for in this parliament; that is, none—in this new parliament we are seizing the opportunities of this new parliament to build a consensus within the parliament to price carbon. For those who are concerned about the national interest, which lies in ensuring that our economy is a low-pollution economy that can be a prosperous economy in a carbon constrained future—so for those who are concerned about that question—there is an opportunity for them to express their views and to help this nation maximise its future economic prosperity by getting on board with the discussions happening in the Multi-Party Climate Change Committee. But we know, of course, the Leader of the Opposition will not elect to do that, because, to the increasing dismay of his own backbench, his own political strategy is wreck, destroy, spread fear and his own backbenchers—like the member for Higgins—are calling him out on it.

Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I seek leave to table the document where it says Julia made him do it.

Leave not granted.