Michael Ronaldson (Victoria, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Veterans' Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I actually fear that Senator Brown might be right. It may have been one of my colleagues who made the comment. I know one of them did at some stage!

As we are finishing another successful sitting week for the opposition and a diabolical one for the government, I will just go through a number of matters in the time left to me. I want to refer to a couple of comments made by the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, and by the Treasurer, Mr Wayne Swan. I would also like to refer to some comments from the now Minister for Finance and Deregulation, Minister Wong. I will go through these slowly so that everyone can hear them and to refresh the memories of those opposite. The first one is:

There will be no carbon tax under the government I lead.

This was the Prime Minister on Channel 10 news on 16 August, 2010. On 20 August, 2010 in the Australian the PM was quoted as saying:

I rule out a carbon tax.

In relation to a carbon tax, the Treasurer, Wayne Swan, on The7.30 Report on the ABC on 12 August, 2010 said:

We have made our position very clear. We have ruled it out.

Next week in this chamber we will be debating a package of carbon tax bills.

But what did Minister for Finance and Deregulation, Minister Wong, have to say about a carbon tax over the last two or three years? I will just go through that. She said:

I have been very upfront about why I think a carbon tax isn't the most sensible thing for Australia.

That was Senator Penny Wong in a press conference on 3 November, 2009. She also said:

… a carbon tax is not the silver bullet some people might think.

That was Senator Penny Wong at the CEDA state of the nation conference on 23 June, 2010. She also said:

A carbon tax does not guarantee emissions reductions.

That was Senator Penny Wong in the Australian on 23 February, 2009. She also said:

A carbon tax … is a recipe for abrupt and unpredictable changes, as the government would need to adjust the tax frequently to try to meet the emissions reduction target …

We know for a fact, on the government's own evidence, that the emissions reduction target will be increasing progressively over future years. Last but most certainly not least, Senator Penny Wong on Sky News on 30 April 2009 said:

… we know that you can't have any environmental certainty with a carbon tax.

So what is this about? I will tell you what it is about. This is about a dirty political deal between the government and the Greens. It is a dirty political deal because the only way the Prime Minister was going to be elected was by saying she would not have a carbon tax and we know full well the only way she was going to remain the Prime Minister was for her to have one, because it was demanded by the Greens.

In the minute left to me, can I make it absolutely clear—

Senator McEwen interjecting—

The interjections from those opposite serve no good purpose at all. Next week we will be legislating a lie. We will be legislating a lie from the start of next week. Those opposite must hang their heads in shame because every one of those lower house members and those Labor senators here was elected on the back of a lie. They cannot look at us or the Australian community with a straight face and in any way plead that they would have been elected had the Prime Minister said six days, five days, two days or two weeks out from the election that there would be a carbon tax. They know that and I know that. They are being utterly duplicitous in their speeches given in this place in support of a carbon tax that they promised the Australian community they would not introduce—not 12 months or six months out from the election but two weeks, 10 days and five days out from the election. We are going to fight against this legislated lie. We will fight it, and we will fight it, and we will fight it. Those opposite can be assured that we will continue fighting it well after the outcome of the dirty deal between the Labor Party and Bob Brown and the Greens. We will be fighting it well after that dirty, dirty deal has been enshrined in legislation. (Time expired)

Debate interrupted.