Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to Senator Minchin, representing the Prime Minister. Is the minister aware that those who have lodged submissions with the Prime Ministerial Task Group on Emissions Trading in support of a national emissions trading scheme include BHP, Rio Tinto, Shell, NAB, Qantas, AGL, the Insurance Council of Australia and plantation and paper industries? Is the minister aware that the submissions from many major corporations now recognise that any global emissions trading scheme will only evolve from a collection of national and regional schemes? Isn’t business reflecting the wider community’s frustration with the Howard government’s failure to tackle climate change? When will the government stop its denial of climate change and accept the need for a national carbon trading scheme?