John Williams (NSW, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

Deputy President Parry, I think this is the first time I have addressed you since you have had the position of Deputy President. I congratulate you on your election to that position, although I can tell you that you are being sadly missed in the whips meetings.

It is quite amazing—a new tax is going to solve everything! Senator Polley is saying that there are emissions trading schemes and carbon taxes in other countries. There is an emissions trading scheme in Europe. It covers 30 countries. Those 30 countries produce 14 per cent of the world's green­house gases. Australia produces just one-tenth of that—1.4 per cent. The money it costs those 30 countries is the equivalent of A$500 million a year. What is this govern­ment's going to cost? Will it be $8 billion or $10 billion, rising from then on? When we get to the emissions trading scheme, who knows what the cost will be? It will be the market that determines the price of carbon.

It is amazing. They talk about compensa­ting households. That might happen when the price is $23 per tonne but what will happen if, in five years time, under the emissions trading scheme, the price of carbon goes to $80 per tonne? The National Australia Bank has even forecast $100 a tonne. How would you compensate if the price was four times higher? Here is the problem already obvious to all. The most amazing thing is that China, India and America are the countries that produce 50 per cent of the world's greenhouse gases. Is there a price on carbon in China? Of course there is not. They are going to increase their expulsion of greenhouse gases by three billion tonnes by the year 2020. In India there is no price on carbon even though the Productivity Commission says it is the cheapest way to carry this out. Why don't they have it? There will be an extra two billion tonnes by them. Between India and China there will be five billion tonnes extra come the year 2020. America: a few states doing very little. Those opposite talk about New Zealand's emissions trading scheme. New Zealand produces 0.1 per cent of the world's greenhouse gas by burning fossil fuels, which is basically zero. No matter what we do, nothing will change.

We have already seen fear put into industries. There was news today about the closing of the Kandos cement factory. They can see the writing on the wall. They are facing a high Australian dollar and cheap imports of cement from China, which coincidentally produces in excess of one billion tonnes of cement a year. They produce 1.1 tonnes of greenhouse gas compared to our 0.8 tonnes. What I am saying is that for those 10 million tonnes of cement made in Australia, if we shut our factories down and import the cement from China, there will be an extra three billion tonnes of CO2. This is a problem. We will be shifting our industries overseas, whether they be aluminium, steel or cement. We have heard about the job losses as a result of Kandos closing down. Kandos cement is a very popular, common product in Australia, and that has been a very disappointing announcement.

But there will be more to come. You cannot tax Australian industries. My fear is for the abattoir at Inverell. Bindaree Beef will probably face an extra $600,000 or $700,000 a year in electricity bills. But will our competitors in America competing for the Korean, South Korean and Japanese beef markets have to pay it? Of course they will not. We talk about fuel. Yes, it is a popular thing not to put the tax on petrol for the tradies or the small vehicles. What is going to happen to the truckies? Already Senator Sterle has made a point about the truckies doing it tough at the Top End of Australia with that outrageous decision to have a total suspension on the export of live cattle. And now the truckies are going to get more of their excise kept by the government.

It was the coalition in government that gave the 18.5c a litre rebate to the transport industry. That has been reduced to 15c because those over there in the Australian Labor Party only know one thing—tax, tax, tax. I can take you through them: the alcopops tax, the cigarette tax, the luxury car tax, the flood tax, the mining tax, the carbon tax. All they know is tax, and now they are going to get into the truckies with the diesel, and probably the miners as well. It is not about cutting their spending, taking the pressure off interest rate rises—seven interest rate rises in a row. No, they will simply spend, spend, borrow, borrow, mortgage our children's future away.