Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Trade) Share this | Hansard source

The government absolutely acknowledges the science of climate change. The government has worked to ensure that Australia will meet our 2020 emissions reduction targets. We've done that through our investment in the Emissions Reduction Fund, we've done that through a range of other investments and we're showing clear leadership in terms of the Climate Solutions Package that the Prime Minister released recently, part of which includes our investment in relation to Snowy Hydro. Snowy Hydro will provide a huge pillar in terms of Australia's ability to transform our energy markets in particular and to meet our 2030 emissions reduction targets.

What is always overlooked by the Australian Greens in their commentary is that, as a nation, Australia met our first Kyoto targets, is on track to meet our second Kyoto targets and, indeed, has been able to do so without the type of carbon tax policies that the Greens advocate for or that the Labor Party adopt. These are policies that we've delivered without those things that drive up electricity prices for Australian households but, instead, seek the transformation in our emissions reduction at the lowest possible cost. And we saw the Labor Party release a policy yesterday that was scant on many details in terms of the impacts of the policy—the economic impacts of the policy—