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

I thank the honourable member for his question. I have listened very careful not only to his comments in the House today on this matter but to his comments over some time on this matter as well. It may be that the honourable member has forgotten the fact that in this place—or, in fact, in his public commentary on climate change—only one year ago he said the following:

… “our first-hand experience in implementing … an emissions trading system” would be of considerable assistance in our international discussions and negotiations aimed at achieving an effective global … agreement.

That is what the Leader of the Opposition had to say last year—in other words, that it would be an important stepping stone towards an international agreement. That was the statement last year. The statement as of today is that in fact the Australian action on this should postdate an international agreement at Copenhagen. When we are dealing with something as serious as climate change, I believe consistency is important. The honourable member also goes to another point, which is the basis for their engagement with possible changes to the legislation over time. Can I simply say to the honourable member that a precondition for that is for those opposite to have a policy, and can I say that here we are, 20 months into the history of this government, 12 years after those opposite were confronted with the same reality, and as of—

See this speech in context