Nick Xenophon (SA, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Abetz asks about deleting the word ‘gross’ from the motion. The word ‘deception’ implies an element of intent: that at the time of the last election there was an intent to deceive the Australian people, that there was no intention of keeping that promise. The government is a minority government. I was in the state parliament when there was a minority Liberal government and when there was a minority Labor government, and I am aware of the policy compromises that are made in order for governments to be formed. That does not mean that there will not be or ought not to be a robust debate about the whole issue of a carbon tax—that is the best way to deal with this issue and to find the best way forward to reduce greenhouse gases in a way that is efficient and is economically and environmentally responsible. I am sure we will have debates in this place in the coming months and years about how we get the best policy outcome, but to censure the government in the context of its being a minority government is not, I believe, the right thing to do. I welcome an opportunity to debate this matter further, because the way that pricing of carbon is constructed in this country will have huge implications, not just for the environment but for the economic future of this nation.