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

I thank those opposite for trying not to interject. The commission looked at a report published by the Climate Commission that dispels once and for all the myths pushed by the opposition that Australia is acting alone. What Senator Cory Bernardi underpins his question with is that we are acting alone and we are not acting in unison with other countries. The commission concluded that every major economy is tackling climate change. It found that 90 countries representing 90 per cent of the global economy have committed to reduce their carbon pollution and have policies in place to achieve these reductions, and that many of these countries are relying on market based mechanisms. We have a fixed price for three years and then will move to a market based mechanism. The commission's report concluded that a carbon price is the most cost effective way to reduce emissions and is more efficient than other direct subsidy policies. That is why next year carbon trading will be operating at the subnational level in the United States. (Time expired)