Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation) Share this | Hansard source

One thing that we are not doing is ignoring any advice. In fact, what we are doing, in a way that has now attracted the support of the IPCC, is going through this in a measured way and getting all the evidence together so that we know what the impact of any policy might be in the long term. That is why we have said, ‘Let’s have a look at the economic and other impacts of setting a particular target.’ Mr Rudd ran out to the electorate in the hope of getting a short-term headline—which he did—and said, ‘This is going to be our target.’ When he was asked what the consequences were going to be, he said, ‘I don’t know.’ You cannot run a trillion-dollar economy with that sort of nonsensical approach to the wellbeing of the Australian people. That is why our measures have now been endorsed by the IPCC.