Pauline Hanson (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Hansard source

The United Nations insists taxing carbon dioxide emissions is necessary to stop the climate warming. I am not convinced, but Labor, together with the Greens, has swallowed this rubbish hook, line and sinker. The Chief Scientist of Australia, Alan Finkel, told the Senate in June last year that reducing carbon emissions by 100 per cent would make virtually no difference to the global climate. Labor plans to ignore the advice of the Chief Scientist of Australia and embark on a plan that will destroy the living standards of most Australian families.

Labor's unrealistic promise is to reduce carbon emissions by 50 per cent by 2030, but Labor has been coy about how this will be achieved. Labor's promise to create a just transitional authority recognises hundreds of thousands of workers will find themselves jobless as a result of their energy and climate policies. Mark my words: Labor's irresponsible plan to rapidly transition to a low-carbon-emitting Australia will end in tragedy. About 38 per cent of carbon emissions come from the production of electricity, gas and water, so that sector cannot, on its own, deliver the 50 per cent savings promised by Labor. So I ask: where will the savings in carbon emissions be made? There is real danger that petrol and diesel prices will rise, just as they have in France. The French government, now deeply unpopular, has increased fuel prices to pay for the transition to a low-carbon-emitting France. Additionally, they tax vehicles on the basis of their carbon emissions per kilometre travelled. Next year the French government expects cars to emit no more than 117 grams of carbon per kilometre, and it is estimated that one in four cars will emit over this level and be subject to fines up to A$15,600. Labor must rule out taxing carbon emissions on Australian vehicles, including those used in agriculture and mining. Taxing carbon emissions on vehicles would devastate the economy. Before it's too late, we need to be out of the Paris climate agreement, and we need less foreign interference in the way we make policies for Australia. (Time expired)