Janelle Saffin (Page, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am totally lateral thinking; I think that is totally myopic thinking! There are other gems like this. Maybe we should have them published in a little book called ‘gems of wit and wisdom of the National Party on climate change’ or ‘the thoughts of Chairman Barnaby Joyce on how to tackle climate change and how to help farmers’.

This brings me to the issue of farmers. A lot of farmers see the daily impacts of climate change. They talk about it. They do want action on this. The government’s Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme, which now includes the amendments that were put forward by the coalition, incorporates a whole range of measures that farmers particularly wanted and were happy with. I was happy with it. I live in an electorate that has a strong agriculture industry, and I have talked with many farmers about it. They want some certainty about this and they certainly have not got it.

I noticed a statement by ACCI commenting on the plan put out by the coalition today, and it says that they need to see the budget impact. That is a critical issue, because you cannot put something to the Australian public that is about a major economic reform without having it properly costed and budgeted. With those comments, I can say that it really is time for the coalition to be true to their word, to support the amendments that they put forward and that the government accepted, and to get behind the Australian public and seriously tackle climate change.

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