Craig Thomson (Dobell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to talk about the need to have a price on carbon and how it relates to my electorate. The beautiful electorate of Dobell is one of the prettiest places in Australia. Unfortunately, the price of such beauty is that it is a very fragile environment. We have a big lake in the middle of my electorate, some beautiful mountains on the other side and a pristine coastline. But unfortunately along the east coast of Australia, which includes my electorate, we are seeing the effects of climate change on communities. We have a number of houses that have had their backyards washed away into the ocean. We now have regular flooding around the beautiful Tuggerah Lakes. What people in my electorate are saying is that we need to do something to make sure that we look after our environment and that we need to make sure that polluters pay a price so that we keep our area sustainable for the future. In my electorate, there is an area on the lakes that has power plants. I know about the direct effects that big industry can have on the environment. This is not just me saying this; this is the message that I am getting loud and clear from my electorate.

Recently, there was an article in the Central Coast Express Advocate about the Central Coast Environment Network. The chairman of that network, John Asquith, when he was asked about the federal government’s proposed price of carbon, said it was long overdue. He went on to say:

This is something that was one of the big issues back in the 1990s and it has taken us two decades to get to here because it just kept getting pushed back.

He understands, and the Australian population understand, that we need to have a price on carbon to make sure that we move forward to protect our environment for the future.

It was not just John Asquith who pointed out that this was an issue in the 1990s. The member for Flinders in the 1990s famously wrote his thesis about the need for a price on carbon. Even those on the other side know that this is something that has had a long genesis. It is something that needs to be done. It is something that is going to make our country better and help us meet the challenges of the future. It is also going to make sure that we give an environment to our kids that they truly deserve.