George Christensen (Dawson, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development. I remind the minister that regional areas have been hit hard by the carbon tax. In my electorate of Dawson, the carbon tax costs the Mackay Regional Council alone $1 million a year for its Hogan's Pocket Landfill site. How will scrapping the carbon tax impact upon ratepayers in Mackay and North Queensland?

Warren Truss (Wide Bay, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My thanks to the member for Dawson for his question. I acknowledge his passionate advocacy for the people of North Queensland. The reality is that the carbon tax is hurting all Australians, but particularly those who live in regional communities, who pay more for everything as a result of this carbon tax. It is a tax that has been costing jobs. It has made our industry less competitive and, therefore, made our country less able to achieve its potential. It adds insidiously to the cost of everything that we do.

Even a visit to the dump costs more. As the member referred to, the Mackay Regional Council is paying about $1 million a year in carbon tax just on its Hogan's Pocket Landfill site—$1 million a year. That is no small amount, particularly for a regional city to pay. Sadly, there are 34 other communities across Australia that are also paying massive amounts of carbon tax on their landfill sites. If it generates more than 25,000 tonnes, they have to pay the carbon tax. Ironically, if it generates only 24,999 tonnes, they pay nothing, but for one extra tonne you are immediately up for a half a million dollars, and the amounts keep just going up and up.

Of course, there is only one thing councils can do in response to this million-dollar tax and that is to pass it on to their ratepayers. The Mayor of Mackay was right when she said that the council was merely collecting on behalf of the federal government due to the tax. She was collecting a tax for the federal government and so she had no option but to raise the rates for residents of Mackay and district.

This government has a mandate to get rid of that tax, to save the ratepayers this tax and to make sure that the cost of living falls right across the nation. But, unfortunately, Labor fail to recognise that mandate. They want the rates to remain high. They will not give the councils the opportunity to pass on these benefits to the ratepayers. Labor should listen, junk the garbage tax and consign the carbon tax itself to the dump. Let us get on with delivering the mandate we have from the Australian people.

Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Madam Speaker, could the Leader of the Nationals please table the script he was reading from?

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Are his notes confidential or non-confidential?

Warren Truss (Wide Bay, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Confidential.

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Then they are not tabled.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure and Transport) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development. If he is concerned about the financial position of Mackay Regional Council, why has he made the decision to withdraw the grant for community infrastructure of $411,484 that was included in the budget, announced at the Australian Local Government Association in June and welcomed by him at the time but ripped out after the election?

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

If the people on my left would be quiet we will hear an answer.

Warren Truss (Wide Bay, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

During the election campaign and in the lead-up to the election campaign, the Labor Party made almost 1,000 promises to fund projects across Australia. Of 1,157 projects that Labor announced under its regional development program, 1,012 were not contracted—they were empty election promises.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure and Transport) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order, on relevance. It was a very specific question that requires a very specific answer from the Deputy Prime Minister.

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I accept that the change we made to the standing orders requiring direct relevance has meaning. Therefore, I would ask the Deputy Prime Minister in his answer to be directly relevant to grants.

Warren Truss (Wide Bay, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Nine hundred and ten of the projects that were announced and uncontracted were to councils, the local councils under this program, the regional development program. Round 5 was all to councils.

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I will call the member for Grayndler, but you may only have one point on relevance.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure and Transport) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Madam Speaker, now the Deputy Prime Minister is defying your ruling, when you indicated to him—

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

No, there is no point of order.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure and Transport) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

very clearly that he needed to be directly relevant to the very specific question.

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There is no point of order.

Warren Truss (Wide Bay, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That 910 included the project for the Mackay Regional Council that the honourable member refers to. So Labor had announced these projects, but none of them were contracted. None of them had even been reviewed by the department and assessed for their merit.

The reality is we have our own election commitments and we will honour our election commitments. But I have never known a government to be expected to honour the election commitments made by the opposition side. They were not elected. Haven't they figured it out yet? They were not elected. The voters voted for our commitments and we will honour the commitments we have made.