Ken O'Dowd (Flynn, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for the Environment. I remind the minister of comments made in The Australian Financial Review on 26 November 2013 by the chairman of Rusal Australia Ltd that they will not invest another cent in major capital investment until the carbon tax is repealed. Will the minister outline to the House the importance of scrapping the carbon tax for the Australian economy and future investments, particularly in my electorate of Flynn?

Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Minister for the Environment) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I did notice the comments from the chairman of Rusal Australia, and members of the opposition should have noticed the comments from the chairman of Rusal Australia. For the record, Rusal is a part owner of the QAL alumina refinery in Gladstone—1,000 employees and another 300 contractors. This is what the chairman said in The Australian Financial Review last week:

Rusal Australia made it clear over the past three years in meetings with, and briefings to, the previous government that its investment in the … (QAL) refinery at Gladstone was being put at risk by the government's unilateral carbon tax and energy policy.

Mark Dreyfus (Isaacs, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Attorney General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Tell us about the environment.

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

The member for Isaacs is warned.

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

The chairman went on to say:

We will not invest another cent in major capital improvements until Labor agrees to the repeal of the carbon tax …

That is a major investor noting that they would not make another cent of investment until the carbon tax was repealed. That warning has been given in crystal clear fashion over the last three years. Significantly, the member for Isaacs asks about the environment. That is interesting, because during the course of this article the chairman of Rusal goes on to say:

A tonne of alumina produced in Australia emits on average 0.85 tonnes of CO2, while in China the average carbon emission from production of a tonne of alumina is 1.35 tonnes.

In other words, the policy of those opposite costs Australian jobs and costs Australian investments, but it also sends up global emissions. For a policy designed to help the environment, it does damage on jobs, it does damage to investment and it does damage to the environment. But it is more than just the member's own area of Flynn and Gladstone. The Queensland Treasurer recently said:

By the modelling done for the previous State government, Queensland could lose up to 21,000 jobs by 2020 and Gross State Product could fall by $9.6 billion thanks to the carbon tax.

Gladstone—pain; Queensland—pain. As the Minerals Council in its submission recently told the Senate:

… for the mining sector the combined costs of permits, higher fuel costs and pass through of carbon costs on gas and electricity was an added burden of about $1.2 billion.

So let us be clear—this tax does damage to jobs, damage to investment and it sends emissions up and overseas.