Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I am happy that the member for Flinders intervened, because I seem to recall last year when we introduced the government’s green paper, and then later our white paper, on emissions trading the honourable member for Flinders said something along the lines of: ‘They have just copied our policy.’ I appreciate the intervention from the honourable member for Flinders. He may be surprised to note that we actually pay some attention to what he says, because there has been a little more consistency—not a lot—in what he says compared with the Leader of the Opposition.

On the impact of the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme on employment, we are concerned to act because the job-destroying impact of climate change over time in agriculture in the Murray-Darling and in tourism across Australia will have a profound effect on the entire economy. Furthermore, by introducing a carbon price into the economy, we encourage the development of job-creating renewable industries across Australia. That is why we believe we have got the balance right in doing so. For example, on the employment impact of climate change, look at the number of people employed in agriculture in the Murray-Darling: 90,000 Australians. The Murray-Darling is a stressed river system because of overuse on the one hand and the impact of climate change on water going into the system on the other.

I draw the honourable Leader of the Opposition’s attention to what happens over time when you do not act appropriately on climate change. For example, modelling has been provided through the Garnaut review which indicates that, if nothing were done on climate change, the value of agricultural production in the Murray-Darling Basin would shrink by 12 per cent by 2030 and by 49 per cent by 2050. There are 90,000 Australians employed in the Murray-Darling. If you go to tourism, the same applies there. I draw the honourable member’s attention to this fact in the renewable energy sector as well: Treasury modelling suggests that, under global action on climate change, most sectors of the Australian economy will grow and, in fact, many emissions-intensive industries will maintain or improve their competitiveness. Furthermore, if you look at the impact on the renewable energy sector, Treasury modelling says that the renewable energy sector will grow by 30 times its current size, creating thousands of jobs—an uncomfortable fact for those opposite. Furthermore, the International Energy Agency estimates that the additional investment in renewable energy by 2050 will be US$45 trillion, creating tens, hundreds of thousands and millions of jobs around the world.

Therefore, the overall impact of introducing a carbon price is that over time we will see job generation coming out of the renewable energy sector. It is also necessary in order to underpin continued job generation in traditional sectors such as agriculture and tourism. This is the jobs dimension to what we do and I suggest that the honourable Leader of the Opposition show some consistency for the first time.

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