Christopher Back (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for the Environment, Senator Cormann. I refer the minister to the fact that the carbon tax has a huge negative impact on business and on jobs while being of negligible if any benefit to the environment. Can the minister inform the Senate why scrapping the carbon tax is particularly important to the constituents of my great state of Western Australia and what support there is for scrapping the carbon tax from major figures in my Western Australian community?

Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Back for that question. We on this side of the chamber, of course, have said consistently for a very long time that the carbon tax is a bad tax. It is bad for the economy, it is bad for jobs and it does nothing to help reduce global greenhouse gas emissions; it just shifts them overseas. We know, of course, that we have had some very high level support from very senior people in the Labor Party over the years for that proposition, none more so the former Prime Minister Julia Gillard who, in the shadow of the 2010 election, said, 'There will be no carbon tax under a government I lead.'

Senator Lines interjecting—

Senator Lines has invited me to remind the chamber that Senator Pratt—she who cannot be found in this chamber all week—went to the last election in Western Australia and said that Kevin Rudd and Labor had removed the carbon tax. Then we had Senator Bishop, who said after the election that the carbon tax is bad and Labor should drop it. Very sensible, Senator Bishop, and very sad that you are not contesting the next election.

Today, on the day the Labor Party votes against our legislation to scrap the carbon tax, we have had another Labor luminary come out into the public debate. There is a gentleman who might not be well known to the chamber: Joe Bullock. He is the Don Farrell of the Labor Party in Western Australia. This is what he had to say in The West Australian today: 'Labor is scrapping the carbon tax.' This is taking things to a new level. We used to have the Labor Party saying one thing before the election and doing the other straight after the election. Now we have the Labor Party saying one thing before the election and doing the exact opposite on the very same day that the statement is made. The Labor Party is clearly totally confused. It is time that the good people on the right side of the Labor Party stood up for what is in the national interest. (Time expired)

Christopher Back (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. Can the minister inform the Senate of any impediments to the government's plans to repeal the carbon tax?

Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The main impediment, of course, is the Australian Labor Party. I said before that the carbon tax is bad for the economy and bad for jobs while doing nothing for the environment, but clearly the carbon tax is bad for the Australian Labor Party too. It does very strange things to the Labor Party. Generally when we approach an election it creates a bit of a virus. That is when the Labor Party says, 'Us too! Us too! We are against the carbon tax too!' But on the very day when the Labor Party, here in Canberra, votes in this chamber to block our attempts to free the Australian people from the impost of the carbon tax, to bring down the cost of living for families and pensioners—in particular in my home state of Western Australia—by voting to keep the carbon tax, their lead candidate, he who cannot be found anywhere in Western Australia, whereas Senator Pratt cannot be found anywhere here in the chamber, comes out and says on the public record that Labor is scrapping the carbon tax. (Time expired)

Christopher Back (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a further supplementary question. Can the minister inform the Senate of the consequences for my home state of Western Australia of any delay in repealing the carbon tax?

Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

A delay in scrapping the carbon tax means that electricity prices will be higher than they otherwise would be. It means that the cost of living for families and pensioners will be higher than it otherwise would be. It means that the cost of doing business in Western Australia will be higher than it otherwise would be. And of course we know that Senator Bishop, Senator Sterle, Senator Pratt and that likely wannabe Senator Joe Bullock all want Labor to get rid of the carbon tax. Why doesn't Labor get out of the way and let us do the right thing in the national interest? We know that Bill Shorten privately and in his heart would like to scrap the carbon tax, but clearly he is not strong enough to stand up for the national interest. He is not strong enough to stare down the Greens and people like Kim Carr and Senator Wong—the left of the Labor Party—

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! You need to refer to people in both places correctly by their title.

Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is clear that the Leader of the Opposition is not strong enough to stare down people like the member for Pyongyang—sorry, the senator for Victoria on the other side—and it is time that he— (Time expired)