Darren Cheeseman (Corangamite, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency. Will the minister update the House on recent developments on the government's plan to put a price on pollution? How has this been received and what is the government's response?

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

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

Order! Before calling the minister, every question today has been greeted by comment by nearly everybody on my left. I think it is about time, if they want question time taken seriously by everybody, that they should at least sit there in relative silence.

Greg Combet (Charlton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Corangamite for his question. Of course, as the House has heard today and as the Prime Minister made clear yesterday, petrol will be exempt from the government's carbon price. What that means is that families, trades­people and small businesses with light commercial vehicles will not face a petrol price rise as a result of the introduction of a carbon price. That is a very important commitment that runs completely contrary to the scare campaign that the Leader of the Opposition has been running for month after month after month.

The Leader of the Opposition has had a number of things to say in the scare campaign. He said on one occasion that the impact on the cost of living would be unimaginable. He has repeatedly said that the carbon price will put 6½c a litre on the price of petrol just for starters. For week after week after week, the Leader of the Oppos­ition has gone out and completely misrep­resented this position to the Australian community. It is time to own up to it and time to apologise. He has claimed more than 20 times that the cost of petrol will go up. He is wrong today, he was wrong then and he should apologise to the community for his deliberate misrepresentation.

A scare campaign is always fuelled by misrepresentation and misinformation and it can never ever stand up to the facts. That is why, as the government finalises more details of our plans to put a price on carbon pollution, the Leader of the Opposition will get more and more hysterical. Chicken Little is going to get more and more shrill as all of his misrepresentation is revealed for what it is—a scare campaign.

On this front, last Friday there was quite an extraordinary outburst at economists. It was essentially: what would leading econo­mists in Australia know about economics compared to the Leader of the Opposition? That was an extraordinary attack on economists in this country for indicating what is widely held and understood—that is, a market mechanism for pricing carbon is the most efficient way of reducing pollution across our economy. He does not like economists, does not like scientists and takes his scientific advice from the One Nation website. This is a completely disreputable campaign that has been run by the Leader of the Opposition.

In the face of all this, the challenge that climate change represents for our country, the Leader of the Opposition is content to see pollution rise and continue to add to the problem that we have. He rejects market mechanisms as efficient ways to reduce pollution across our economy. He will slug the budget instead with the subsidies-for-polluters policy. It will cost $30 billion—

Dr Jensen interjecting—

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

The member for Tangney is warned.

Greg Combet (Charlton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

to 2020. It is going to cost $720 per household for the subsidies-for-polluters policy. The Leader of the Opposition is committed to claw back the pension increases, take back the tax cuts, claw back the benefits for families. He is going to take them all back by repealing the carbon price legislation. Our country faces a serious significant challenge with the threat of climate change. As a political figure in this country, it is hard to imagine a more irresponsible misrepresentative campaign than that that has been conducted by the Leader of the Opposition over recent months and in coming days it will be exposed. (Time expired)

Dan Tehan (Wannon, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Small Business. I refer to the Prime Minister's promise that petrol will be exempt from her carbon price. Will Allen Transport, a business with 22 local employees operating in Portland and Warrnambool with 10 trucks, have to pay the carbon tax on the fuel they use?

Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to thank the member for Wannon for his question. All fuel—including petrol, diesel and LPG—for passenger motor vehicles and light commercial vehicles will not be subject to the carbon price. The member for Wannon will also know that in the last four months the Leader of the Opposition no fewer than 20 times has said that the cost of petrol will rise. This just exposes what has really been going on in this country in the political debate—

Mr Pyne interjecting—

Ms Julie Bishop interjecting—

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

Order! The member for Sturt and the Deputy Leader of the Opposition are warned.

Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We have seen in the last four months the Leader of the Opposition trying to run a strategy which says that fear will triumph over hope. He has been trying to make it very clear that there will be a carbon price on petrol for passenger motor vehicles and for light motor vehicles.

We have also agreed that there should be—

Sharman Stone (Murray, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order on relevance. The question was about large trucks. It was: what is going to be the cost impact on large motor vehicles? Trucks were what were referred to by the member for Wannon.

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

Order! The member for Murray will resume her seat. The Assistant Treasurer is aware of the need to directly relate his answer to the question. The Assistant Treasurer is responding.

Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In terms of the question that was asked, I was asked about Allen Transport. In terms of the trucks that were spoken about, there was not the specification that the member for Murray says there was. Perhaps if she had written the member for Wannon's question it might have gone a different way. But returning to the question that was asked about a carbon price on petrol, we have been very clear in the last 24 hours that there will not be a price on carbon put on petrol for passenger motor vehicles and for light commercial vehicles.

In terms of the rest of the detail of the carbon package, I know that the opposition is greatly interested in what the price on carbon should be. In the very near future more detail will emerge. But let us go back to what has been put on the record already. We have agreed to a Productivity Commission review on fuel excise. We have said that there will be a Productivity Commission review on fuel excise. It is anticipated that this review will include an examination of the merits of the regime based on carbon content or energy content of fuels. The Henry review looked at this in some detail. It recommended replac­ing the revenue raised through fuel excise with direct charges for road use. The review noted that this would actually result in a reduction in fuel tax paid.

I am not going to pre-empt the rec­ommendations of the Productivity Com­mission's review, which has not even started, but let us be very clear when it comes to fuel excise policy in this place. The government is not afraid of good policy. That is why as recently as two weeks ago we finished the job which the opposition should have done. I know that Mr Minchin is no longer here, but he recognised that for excises in the fuel tax policy it was important to include alternative fuels such as LPG. We finished the job which should have been done by those opposite many years ago. If they actually want to engage in a proper policy debate then they will have to do more than just oppose ideas.

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

Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I request that the minister table the notes from which he was so clearly reading every word.

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

Was the Assistant Treasurer reading from a document?

Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is confidential.

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

The document is conf­idential.