Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Employment) Share this | Hansard source

Mr President, I thought the standing orders had something in them about hypothetical questions, and if ever there was a hypothetical question I would have thought this was it. In relation to the question posed to me about action on climate change and ensuring that there are less emissions going into the atmosphere, I would have thought a price indicator might have been helpful, for example for fuel. But of course our good friends in the Australian Greens now think that is a very bad policy. We acknowledge that policy statement by the Australian Greens, as we have acknowledged the statements made by other parties that will soon be represented in this chamber. We as a government, as always, will seek to pursue the mandate entrusted to us by the Australian people. If this place, as it has from time to time, decides not to accept the will of the Australian people, then so be it. Until we come to those bridges, I am not going to be engaged in hypothesising on what may or may not have happened, suffice to say that this government is absolutely committed to getting rid of the carbon tax, which will go up again on 1 July because the Labor Party continues to keep it on life support. That is undermining the cost of living for many households and destroying jobs right throughout our economy. We as a government want to get rid of the carbon tax. On the other side of the ledger, we are completely committed to our Direct Action Plan and we will seek to implement that to achieve the outcomes that we put to the electorate not only in 2013 but also in 2010. It is a very sensible plan and a plan that has been aired in public for over three years.