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

I do not think Senator Brown will be surprised to know that, if he wrote a letter to the Prime Minister a couple of hours ago, I have not been briefed on the Prime Minister’s response to that. In fact, I suspect the Prime Minister has not seen it yet. We run very efficient communication links, but in terms of specifically responding to the letter, obviously I cannot help you, Senator Brown.

What is clear is that this government is committed to trying to ensure that we get CPRS legislation through this parliament. We think it is vital for the environment, vital for the world and vital for this nation. What we have tried to do is bring that legislation into this parliament and gain support to have it passed. We have only 32 senators here. We know we are going to need the support of others to get it passed. But we have gone through a long process of consultation and a long process of producing discussion papers and a white paper in order to get debate on these issues. Unfortunately, the opposition are in such disarray that they have been unable to respond. You, Senator Brown, have been a critic of the scheme and have decided to vote against it, which of course is your right.

Yes, we do remain committed to seeking to have that legislation passed. We do remain open to negotiations and input from all Australians and all political parties, but we are absolutely committed to getting that legislation carried by this parliament as soon as possible. We think it is important. We undertook to the Australian people to do so. The Liberal-National opposition also did that, but they walked away from that commitment. We hope they reconsider their position and go down the same path that John Howard committed them to and support the legislation that we have introduced in the parliament.