Jane Prentice (Ryan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today marks the day when the Australian people have won. Businesses, organisations, families and individuals are now all free from the Labor-Greens carbon tax. I commend the Senate for finally making the responsible decision and voting the way the Australian people mandated at the 2013 election. Families will be better off by as much as $550 a year, and it will now be easier for businesses to compete and create more jobs. Residents of the Brisbane City Council area were forced to pay the $65 million carbon tax bill. That was not fair. The cost of living was forced to increase because Labor and the Greens thought that snatching money from the hands of families already doing it tough was environmentally friendly.

The tragedy is that without a tax Brisbane City Council was already leading the nation in green initiatives. The coalition made the pledge to scrap the carbon tax, and we delivered. While today all Australians can breathe a sigh of relief, the job of undoing Labor's legacy of chaos and debt is still far from over. The coalition government is getting on with the job, and we will not rest until it is done.