Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Finance and Deregulation) Share this | Hansard source

One wonders, of course, where the good senator was when former Prime Minister Howard committed to a carbon price through an emissions trading scheme. One wonders whether this senator went to the 2007 election saying, 'I know we've agreed to an emissions trading scheme but I actually don't want one because it's a very bad thing for industry and a very bad thing for jobs.'

One wonders whether this was discussed in the Howard ministry, whether this good senator—who was, I think, a minister at that time—stood up and said, 'I don't think we should do this because this is bad for the economy.' That was the policy of the coalition at the 2007 election and under Prime Minister Howard when they used to actually care about economic policy, when they actually used to care about ensuring there was an economically responsible approach to climate change. We will continue to proceed with this policy because it is the right thing to do. (Time expired)