Martin Ferguson (Batman, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Resources and Energy) Share this | Hansard source

It has been a year of hard work. The member for Flinders needs to be reminded of a comparison with the work we put in place over the last four months. We put in place the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme and we also put in place the renewable energy target that will facilitate investment in Australia, but he was part of a government that had 12 years to do something and actually did nothing on the climate change debate.

That also raises the nature of question time today. This government has actually focused on a serious debate throughout the course of question time this afternoon, and I compare that with the other side of the House. Just think about the issues that we have confronted this afternoon, and not only this afternoon but over the course of the whole week, while the opposition has continued to wallow in the gutter. Let us go to the nature of those questions: the all-important issue of jobs and the state of the Australian economy—an issue that never confronted the previous government over 12 long years.

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