Steve Fielding (Victoria, Family First Party) Share this | Hansard source

Here we are debating a motion to censure the government for its gross and systematic failure in the delivery of climate change programs, including the Home Insulation Program—the pink batts or batty batts program. First of all, I would like to say: what did the government expect from holding hands with the Greens and rushing ahead with wacky policy ideas? It is unreal that you would hold hands with them. Maybe you were hoping they would vote for your crazy Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme. But that completely failed, and this is what you get.

Maybe we should be having a censure motion of the Greens for their wacky policy positions that would actually wreck the Australian economy. I find it farcical that the Greens have moved a motion to censure the government, when it is their ideas that the government have rushed ahead with, trying to please the Greens. They are wacky policy positions. The renewable energy targets that they were putting forward were wacky. Sorry, but they were wacky. The government have been holding hands with the Greens over their wacky policy ideas, and now you have got yourselves in a heck of a mess. The Greens did not even support your Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme. It is absolutely ridiculous.

Maybe we should just change this motion to say that the Greens should be censured for their wacky policy positions—renewable energy targets of 30 per cent. That would cripple our economy. It would absolutely spiral up electricity prices. Families could not even pay their bills. And here we have the government jumping into bed with the Greens. They have got themselves in a mess because they tried to rush ahead with their crazy ideas. When it came to the emissions trading scheme, the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme, the Greens had a wacky idea again—of signing up for even bigger targets before Copenhagen. Gee, what an embarrassment that would have been for Australia. Copenhagen was a farce, a huge flop. We would have been embarrassingly and recklessly signing ourselves up for targets that would expose Australian jobs and our economy.

Yes, this censure motion is real. Yes, the government should be censured on this issue, but surely the Greens should also be censured. Their whacky policies would send us back to the horse-and-buggy days. It is ridiculous to think that they would jump into bed so quickly. What did you expect? You were that much of a fool that you did it!

Bob’s forest is a dangerous place. Lurking behind every tree is a whacky dangerous Greens policy position. Look at RET—the renewable energy targets. They would have wrecked our economy. Look at their position on the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme. That position was whacky. It is crazy to think that you have, gullibly, let yourselves into this.

How many times could the coalition flip-flop on the climate issue? Maybe you should have gone to the Winter Olympics. You could have won an elegance award in aerial skiing for double backflips—with a smile on your face at the same time! How credible are you guys? How credible can you be? I do not think you can be credible. It was not that long ago when you were signing up for Copenhagen. You would have been elegant in the Winter Olympics doing your double backflips with smiles on your faces! We are all dizzy from how many twists and turns you have done on the ice-skating rink.

Let us look at Labor. Let us just think about this for a moment. Censure is harsh criticism or disapproval; to reprimand or rebuke formally. Labor should be rebuked. They could not manage themselves out of a wet paper bag! It is disgraceful to think that Mr Garrett has not got the decency to resign. If you could put aside the debt—which is hard to do—you would still hear about how much waste has gone on with this program. There has been up to one billion dollars worth of waste with ineffective insulation being used, some dangerous. It is incompetence at the highest level, and Mr Rudd has not got the guts. If the minister has not got the sense of decency to resign Mr Rudd should do something about it.