Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change and Water) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr President. The senator is correct that I did have a chance meeting—it must have been for an hour and a half then—as a result of sitting next to, I think it was, the Port Pirie general manager, and we had a very useful discussion. But I would indicate—and the senator may not be aware—that the Department of Climate Change has engaged on a number of occasions with a great many companies, including in the zinc and lead smelting industries. I also have engaged with a great many Australian companies at CEO level in relation to this issue. We are committed as a government to ongoing and constructive engagement. We are committed to doing that because we understand the importance of striking the right balance.

I would remind the chamber that what we are doing is seeking to put in place precisely what we committed to prior to the election. More importantly to those opposite, we are actually doing what you said you would do. We are putting in place an emissions trading scheme, the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme, which is precisely what your leader, Malcolm Turnbull, when he was environment minister, indicated he would do. As best as I can understand your policy, given the differences of views on the front bench, you are also committed to putting in place a trading scheme.

The reality is that we have had very close consultation with a great many sectors of Australian industry, and we are acutely aware of the issues that a range of industries have raised with us. There are different views amongst the business community, and we in government accept that. Of course, it is unfortunate that those on the other side do not seem to believe that constructive engagement between government and business is a good idea.