Stephen Jones (Throsby, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is 20 per cent renewable energy targets, a point the member for Flinders knows full well. He is also aware that the cost of making up the shortfall is in the order of $20.4 billion to purchase the carbon pollution permits on the world market. This is the lie in the opposition’s policy. They have not been willing to come clean in this debate or anywhere else on what the cost of their direct action policy is to the budget and what the cost is to Australian households. We estimate that the cost to households is in the order of $600 per annum. If we want to have an honest debate about realistic policies and the comparison of realistic policies in dealing with this important issue, let us have an honest debate about comparing the costs of their inefficient policy with our proposed market mechanisms.

The second issue that arises from the contribution of the member for Flinders is that somehow if we act on this we will be one out in the international community. The member for Flinders knows there are scores of countries that have already started the transformation to a low-pollution economy—32 countries and 10 US states already have emissions trading schemes in operation. The member for Flinders knows this full well. Far from our leading the pack, we will be joining those countries and those states that know that we have to act and we have to act soon and decisively.

It was very entertaining and at times enjoyable listening to the member for Gippsland teeing off in this chamber against the Greens, but frankly it missed the point. The point is that at the last election a majority of Australians voted for action on climate change because they expect us to do something about it, and they expect us to do something about it in this term of government. The Labor Party, this government, is determined to act and is determined to act in a Labor way. That means following the science, that means following the best economic advice available and that means ensuring that we bring our people along with us and do not leave behind the working people who live in regions such as my own as we make this important economic transformation.

What distinguishes us from those opposite is that we actually believe in the science of climate change. I know the member for Flinders does, but he is not surrounded by a team of true believers. His leader describes it as ‘absolute crap’. The brains trust in the Senate, Senators Boswell, Bernardi and Barnaby Joyce, have made interesting contributions to the debate over the last six months, one of them suggesting that because he cannot sense climate change from his yacht it is not happening.

See this speech in context