Fiona Nash (NSW, National Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Education) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Birmingham—pick and choose when they will tell the truth. I find it extraordinary the minister can stand in parliament and say, hand on heart, that they have consulted with the Australian people on this piece of legislation. I appreciate the intent with which Minister Ellis said that, Senator Farrell, and I think it is a very good thing. I think prior to elections the people of Australia should be consulted on issues of importance that are going to impact them. I would say that this particular piece of legislation is one of them; it is going to hit the hip pockets of families around the country in terms of their childcare fees.

One wonders why the government did not ask the Australian people about a carbon tax. Perhaps before the last election the Prime Minister could have said: 'Yes, I'm going to bring in a carbon tax. Not only that, I'm going to tell the people before the election that I'm going to bring in a carbon tax, and I will consult with the people before I bring in a carbon tax.' That reminds me: the Prime Minister did indicate that nothing would go ahead on a carbon tax until rigorous consul­tation with the community had occurred. It is a bit unfortunate that that never happened. So I ask the minister what response, if any, there has been from the sector about the potential implementation of these measures.