Deborah O'Neill (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The member for Wentworth comes to mind:

… we know that picking winners is hard enough for the private sector, and well nigh impossible for the public sector. We know that when tax revenues are handed out to one firm or industry they come at the expense of all the other firms and families that paid that tax.

With direct action, the Abbott coalition is going to attempt to pick winners. It is paying a subsidy to its most preferred polluters at the taxpayers' expense, all at an extravagant cost for no meaningful reduction in carbon emissions. It is game-playing of the most dangerous kind—that is, with the future of this country. In so doing, the Liberal Party is abandoning any credible claim as the party of capital; it is now, very clearly, the party of economic vandalism.

Stewardship of our great nation requires governments to have the vision to deliver policies that ensure our way of life is sustainable. From my home on the Central Coast, I can see the ocean as I look up towards Newcastle and down the coast to North Head. I cannot help but take in the sheer beauty of my surrounds. In this, I am sure I am joined by hundreds of thousands of residents who also call these places home, places that are at risk from climate change. Increased temperatures will alter our landscape and our natural environment and impact on our flora and fauna.

Considering the Abbott coalition's approach to climate change, it is little wonder it has systematically moved to close down, censor or intimidate independent sources of advice and information. This is at the heart of its decision to abolish the Climate Commission and to shut down the Climate Change Authority. Labor will vote against this shambolic policy, and we will not allow the coalition to silence expert advice— (Time expired)