Concetta Fierravanti-Wells (NSW, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

I too rise to speak on the Clean Energy Legislation (Carbon Tax Repeal) Bill 2013 [No.2] and related bills. Can I start my contribution by looking at the hypocrisy of Senator Wong when she speaks about intergenerational burden. This is from a former finance minister whose legacy to this country would have been cumulative deficits of $123 billion and a debt of $667 billion unless remedial action had been taken by this government. So do not come into this place, Senator Wong, with your hypocrisy and tell us about intergenerational burden, when you left our children and our grandchildren with an enormous debt and deficit disaster. This government now has to fix up your mess.

Secondly, she obviously has amnesia because she is not familiar, despite what Senator Abetz pointed out to her the other day, with the pamphlet that the Labor Party went out with at the last federal election. They understood the electoral poison that the carbon tax was, because their pamphlet said Kevin Rudd and Labor removed the carbon tax. That was the lie that they perpetrated at the last federal election by publishing material that actually said 'Carbon tax abolished'. That is what it said—authorised by George Wright. At the last federal election he was their federal general secretary. This is what went out. Everybody did not know it was out there? They were not distributing it? Of course they were distributing it. They realised the electoral poison that the carbon tax was and they were getting on the bandwagon and lying to the Australian public, saying, 'Kevin Rudd and Labor have removed the carbon tax.' They did not remove the carbon tax; they are in here still fighting tooth and nail to retain it.

Can I just say to you, Senator Wright, how absolutely patronising it is of you to come into this chamber and denigrate the crossbenchers. I thought that was absolutely outrageous. This is from a political party that has some of the most wacko policies that we have ever seen in this country. They believe in fairies at the bottom of the garden—these are the Greens of Australian politics.

Let me go on—unless those opposite, the Greens and the Labor Party, did not realise there was an election last year. We went to the election and we said clearly—we said clearly—that we would be abolishing the carbon tax. It would be the first priority of the new government to abolish the carbon tax. That is what we are doing.