Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Bonner for her question. This government is indeed committed to tackling climate change. We regard climate change as the moral challenge for our generation. Climate change is a threat to our economic prosperity, and pretending there is not a problem or leaving it to future generations to solve is not an option. The transport sector, which contributes around 14 per cent of total greenhouse gas emissions, must be a part of any climate change strategy. The government is currently working through the design aspects of the ETS. We will be releasing a green paper in July. For the ETS to be effective we know that it needs to have as broad a coverage as possible. Exempting or shielding sectors of the economy from the ETS will increase costs for the sectors which are included. The government is aiming to get the best results on climate whilst minimising pressures on working families and the risk to the economy.

What we know, not just from domestic reports but also from reports such as that done by Stern, is that the sooner you take action the lower the cost will be. Those opposite denied that climate change was a problem for 12 years. They opposed ratifying Kyoto. They opposed an ETS; they said it was just a tax and it should be opposed. But in the lead-up to last year’s election they had a change of heart. They tried to convince the Australian public that they were serious about climate change. The member for Wentworth’s own climate change policy released on behalf of the government of the day, which the Treasurer has outlined, said this about transport:

By bringing transport fuels into the Australian emissions trading system, consumers will be given ... greater incentive to improve the energy efficiency of their transport choices.

Economics 1A, and said by the member for Wentworth as part of their policy. We know from the Treasurer that today on Sky News the member for Wentworth said this in rejecting an ETS involving transport: ‘It was the Howard government’s policy’—as if it had nothing to do with him. But he actually went further. In the same interview he said the emissions-trading scheme was ‘part of our policy last year and it remains—

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