Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for that very important question. This is a very important report. It points to the fact that we do need to act on climate change, that we need to reduce our carbon pollution, if we want to have a prosperous economy and if we want to grow sustainably into the future and create the jobs that we require for our children and for our grandchildren.

Dangerous climate change will have a dramatic impact not just on our environment but on our economy. This has been demonstrated by report after report. It was demonstrated first and foremost by the Stern report many years ago and then demonstrated by the Garnaut report and again demonstrated today. We on this side of the House absolutely understand that the costs of inaction on climate change are far greater than the costs of action. We understand that. We understand that the only growth strategy for the future is a growth strategy which puts in place lower carbon pollution. That is the only sustainable way forward to continue to create jobs. To do this, and to put in place a price on carbon, it means that we get investment in the renewable energy of the future. But to do all of this you need to have a clear economic vision for our future. This government does have a clear economic vision for our future, but unfortunately those opposite have no such vision whatsoever. That was on display in this House when the Leader of the Opposition gave his non-budget reply. It was on display again at the Press Club when we had that appalling performance from the shadow Treasurer only last week. It was probably the worst in history from a shadow Treasurer at the Press Club.

What we know is that this is all about something far deeper than their incapacity to put forward an alternative economic policy; it is about the fact that the Leader of the Opposition denies the science of climate change. That is absolutely at the core because this Leader of the Opposition will not make the hard decisions. This Leader of the Opposition is unwilling and incapable of facing up to the big decisions our country needs to make—whether it is bringing our budget back to surplus, taking action during a global recession or dealing with dangerous climate change. He is absolutely incapable of making those hard decisions because what he wants to do is the politically opportunistic thing and not the right thing by the country.

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