Craig Thomson (Dobell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

That is the answer we get from the opposition—silence, dead air. They do not know what they want to do in terms of tax reform at all. They are an absolute shambles on their economic position. There is this internal debate that is going on as to whether they should actually have a policy on any issue or whether they should continue with the current strategy of trying to duck and hide and not say anything about any particular issue. So it is little wonder that the member for North Sydney chose, in his usual courageous manner, not to turn up and contribute today. He probably can be excused, given the recent emails and phone calls that he has been getting from the Leader of the Opposition.

This government is prepared to commit to the tax forum to make sure that we do look at those issues. We are also making sure that the mining sector pays an appropriate amount of tax. This should not be delayed until a tax summit. This needs to be dealt with now. Australians right around the country understand there is a mining boom, but they want to make sure that they get their fair share of the economic prosperity that is flowing to a few. Part of the way in which we do this is by making sure that the mining tax is put into place as quickly as we can so that we can all share in its benefits.

You need only to look at an area like my own, the seat of Dobell on the Central Coast, where people are doing it tough. They have been doing it tough for a long time. We are right next to a mining area in the Hunter, yet my area does not receive the benefits that flow from the boom that is occurring there.

It is important that we do not delay. It is important that we put in place the mining tax. What we are getting from the member for North Sydney and the opposition is a delaying tactic. It is another plank in their continued attack on the government. Their attack is about saying: 'Let's do nothing; let's take a position where we say nothing. Let's try to stop anything positive that the government is trying to do to improve the lives of ordinary Australians'—ordinary Australians such as those who live in my electorate.

I do not have terribly much time left, but I do want to make some comment on the carbon tax, which really is an industry pollution reduction scheme. That is a better way perhaps of looking at it. I had the pleasure of having the Leader of the Opposition visit my electorate last week. I put an open invitation to him: 'You have come to an electorate that has been affected by climate change. Come with me to Norah Head and see the houses that are falling off the cliff, the beaches that are washing away and the houses losing their backyards at the north entrance and the flooding of the Tuggerah Lakes.' What did he do instead? He chose to do a stunt with Weet-bix. The big issue facing Australia is Weet-bix.

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