My question is to the Prime Minister. Now that we have a 'yes' campaign on a carbon tax, when will the Prime Minister finally admit that, yes, she did break her promise not to have a carbon tax, and when will she finally say 'yes' to an election so that the people will have their say on her toxic tax?

To the Leader of the Opposition I say that his conduct in this parliament in the first 30 seconds of question time justifies John Hewson's description of him as the 'master of the negative'. That is all the Leader of the Opposition knows. Even his fellow Liberals can no longer stomach his negativity and hollowness. The reason we saw those divisions is that when you stand for nothing it is easy to be divided, isn't it? There is no sense of purpose and no sense of unity, because under this Leader of the Opposition they stand for nothing.

Let me say the following to the Leader of the Opposition: I believe climate change is real; I know the Leader of the Opposition does not. I believe that because climate change is real we should have the cheapest and most efficient way of cutting carbon pollution. Economists tell us that the cheapest and most efficient way of cutting carbon pollution is to put a price on carbon—

What about before the election?

Order! The member for Sturt—

and get the business in our nation that are big businesses and big polluters to pay that price—

Mr Pyne interjecting—

Order! The member for Sturt—

not households and not taxpayers but big businesses that are big polluters. There are fewer than 1,000 of them. Then, because there is a price on that carbon pollution and they can no longer put it up into the atmosphere for nothing, because they are smart business people and because they are driven by the bottom line they will find ways of innovating and changing their business practices—

Mr Pyne interjecting—

Order! The member for Sturt—

so that they generate less carbon pollution. We will use the revenue paid by those big polluters to assist Australian families. We will use it to protect Australian jobs. We will use it to fund programs that tackle climate change.

The Leader of the Opposition stands for a proposition that the member for Wentworth has rightly described as one that is expensive for taxpayers and will not work. It is the kind of policy you put forward when you do not really believe in climate change and your main aim is to have a policy that you can fool people with and you can bring to an end very quickly if you were ever required to implement it.

Look at the contrasts in our policies. We will require big polluters to pay and give some of that money to Australian families—

Opposition members interjecting—

Order! The member for Herbert—

whereas the Leader of the Opposition will get Australian families to pay through increased tax and give that money to the big polluters. To the Leader of the Opposition I say that as the Liberal Party increasingly develops a sense of shame about his political tactics—

Mr Simpkins interjecting—

Order! The member for Cowan—

it is now time for the Leader of the Opposition to stop this fear campaign and deal with the issue that confronts this nation and confronts this planet, and that is to effectively tackle climate change.

Mr Speaker, I ask a supplementary question. I ask the Prime Minister why is she so negative about asking the people? Why won't the Prime Minister do the most positive thing she can and say 'yes' to an election? It is all very well asking the acting community, but why doesn't the Prime Minister ask the people what they think of her toxic tax?

Desperate!

I thank Minister Macklin for the best word to describe that performance—desperate indeed.

Order! The House will come to order.

At some point the Leader of the Opposition needs to stop insulting his fellow Australians. At some point he needs to stop insulting the intelligence of his fellow Australians. Australians overwhelmingly believe climate change is real—that is, they are in front of the Leader of the Opposition. The Australian community has moved past him. They believe climate change is real.

To those Australians who believe climate change is real and who want to act now, we say to them, and I say to them as Prime Minister, let's act in the most effective way we can, the cheapest way we can, the most efficient way we can and the best way we can to cut carbon pollution. What the Leader of the Opposition says to them instead is to try to stoke fear.

Mr Pyne interjecting—

Order! The member for Sturt—

Just this morning, in the last six or seven hours, we have had members of the opposition out at the doors engaged in a campaign of deceit trying to pretend to the Australian people that the government is funding the COP 11 campaign advertising that went to air yesterday.

Opposition members interjecting—

Order! The member for Casey—

They knew that was not true, but they were out on the doors engaged in a campaign of deceit trying to say to the Australian people that the government was funding that advertising.

Opposition members interjecting—

Order! The Deputy Leader of the Opposition—

Then we had the shameful display of the member for Murray trying to pretend to the people in her electorate that jobs were being lost at a local food manufacturer because of a carbon price, and they were going to New Zealand because of fears of a carbon price in Australia. What she forgot to tell them in that campaign of fear is that New Zealand, under a conservative prime minister, has an emissions trading scheme. That is, in the last six or seven hours—we do not even have to go further back than that—we have had the opposition out there knowingly speaking untruths to try and generate fear in the minds of the Australian community. Well, the Australian community believe climate change is real. And, because they believe climate change is real, we will work with members of the Australia community to put in place the best mechanism to cut carbon pollution and tackle climate change—by, as I say, putting a price on the biggest polluters and giving money to Australian families. The Leader of the Opposition wants to rip money off Australian families and use it to subsidise the biggest polluters. We on this side will keep talking about the facts and the best path forward for this nation.