Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Troeth for her sterling defence of Rio Tinto. They are the defenders of Indigenous people, the defenders of workers and the defenders of Australia’s sovereign rights and, of course, we have seen it for 20 years from Rio. We have seen it from Rio, but what we do not see is any assessment of the facts. We do not see any recognition from the opposition that the mining industry is very important to Australia and that it has to pay its fair share to ensure that the benefits of the people’s assets are shared amongst the people of this country. You would have thought Senator Troeth, coming from what used to be the moderate section of the Liberal Party—she is very lonely these days—would have rejected a question like this because she knows how dishonest it is for the Liberal Party to claim—