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

I am aware of a great many statements which have been made by many individuals, including the Leader of the Opposition, about coal. I can recall, for example, the Leader of the Opposition saying:

A carbon tax ultimately means death to the coal industry.

That is a very measured contribution from a national leader. He said that, I think, at Peabody's Helensburgh mine—just prior to Peabody launching a $4.7 billion bid for Macarthur Coal—a few days after the clean energy package was announced. I think that really speaks for itself. We have a man who says he wants to be Prime Minister asserting death to an industry—and a $4.7 billion takeover after he says it. That really, I think, demonstrates the bona fides of the people in this place asking these questions.

The government recognises that there are a small number of gassy underground coalmines that have high fugitive methane emissions and that these will face increased costs under a carbon price. The government has put in place a coal sector jobs package of $1.3 billion to support jobs and assistance with transition. In addition, there is $70 million available for assistance to develop emissions reduction technologies for gassy coalmines through a coalmining abatement technology support package. When we consider these facts, with a $23 carbon price, once the government's assistance is taken into account, the impact on costs for the coalmining industry will, on average across the industry, be less than $2 for every tonne of coal produced. (Time expired)