Doug Cameron (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I hope I do not wander because of that unfair interjection. I was dealing with direct action. As you are aware, nothing could be more relevant to the issue of the cost of living of workers in Western Sydney than the impost that this nonsense of a policy called direct action would have on working families in Western Sydney. You see, what the coalition seek to do is to use taxpayers' funds to provide so-called incentives to business in this country to reduce carbon pollution. What we are doing is exactly what Peter Shergold indicated in the Shergold report and that was: deal with carbon issues, deal with them through a market mechanism and do not wait till the rest of the world acts, but act now because it is the most important thing to do. I note Senator Sinodinos nodding sagely behind Senator Payne, and that is because Senator Sinodinos was there when this advice was given to the Howard government. Senator Sinodinos supported this position. Senator Sinodinos knows that the cheapest way to deal with carbon pollution is to use a market based mechanism. It was what John Howard said he would use. (Time expired)