Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Cormann for his long question. Last month the government did secure—so I will grant him that—an agreement to link Australia's carbon price with the European Union emissions trading system, the ETS. What the opposition fails to recognise is that this is a positive step. In fact, if you look at the advantages that are there, linking Australia's emissions trading scheme to Europe is a significant achievement in support of international carbon markets. What the opposition were in favour of a few years ago—they are now not so much in favour of it—is how you take global action on reducing our emissions; in other words, global action on climate change.