Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Treasurer. Will the Treasurer outline for the House the importance of a carbon price in supporting the jobs of the future in this country? How has this approach been received and what is the government's response?

Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Moreton for a very important question. The top priority for this government is to build a strong economy that provides high-value, high-paid jobs to Australians. In the 21st century, those economies that will be successful, those first-class economies, will be those that are substantially driven by clean energy, and most particularly renewable energy. That is the importance of the package that we are putting before the Australian people. The clean energy package that we are putting forward will provide the certainty to invest.

Dr Jensen interjecting—

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

I remind the member for Tangney I do not have to warn him!

Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We are firing the starter's gun for the investment across a whole new lot of areas of innovation, particularly clean energy jobs, which will come across wide sectors of our economy.

This initiative builds on what we have been doing so far. It builds on putting in place the NBN, another very important initiative to lift the productivity of our economy. It builds on the $3 billion package which was at the core of our recent budget to invest in the skills, education and training of our people. And, of course, it builds on what we are doing in taxation reform to make sure we give a tax break to those 2.7 million small businesses out there and to make a cut to the company tax rate.

This is a fundamental reform and it is in the tradition of the other big fundamental reforms that have made the Australian economy much more resilient. As I was saying before, the Australian economy is resilient, and one of the reasons it has been resilient is that governments in the eighties and the nineties in this country put in place a raft of reforms that have built that underlying strength. This is one of those reforms—a reform that we need to stay ahead of the game, to get the investment going into clean energy technologies to create the jobs of the future. Under our clean energy package there will be 1.6 million jobs created over the period to 2020. They will come from very important projects such as our investment in solar power up in Chinchilla or at Moree—very important projects not just in terms of construction but in terms of how they will drive the innovation for the future. All of these projects are a small step but an important step in making sure that we grab the opportunities of the 21st century in clean energy, just as they are doing it in other countries right around the world—in Denmark, in Germany, in China and right around the region. We must make this reform so we are not left behind. What that really means is that decision makers have to front up to their responsibilities. They cannot ignore the facts. They cannot ignore the case for investing in clean energy through putting a price on carbon and the fact that it is the most efficient way to do that. Those on the other side of the House want to deny the facts. They want to put their heads in the sand. They want to reject the 21st century. They do not understand the importance of clean energy. We on this side of the House understand the importance of getting the economic settings right so we can be prosperous in the 21st century and deliver the high-value, high-paid jobs all Australians deserve.