Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

To the Leader of the Opposition I say that his conduct in this parliament in the first 30 seconds of question time justifies John Hewson's description of him as the 'master of the negative'. That is all the Leader of the Opposition knows. Even his fellow Liberals can no longer stomach his negativity and hollowness. The reason we saw those divisions is that when you stand for nothing it is easy to be divided, isn't it? There is no sense of purpose and no sense of unity, because under this Leader of the Opposition they stand for nothing.

Let me say the following to the Leader of the Opposition: I believe climate change is real; I know the Leader of the Opposition does not. I believe that because climate change is real we should have the cheapest and most efficient way of cutting carbon pollution. Economists tell us that the cheapest and most efficient way of cutting carbon pollution is to put a price on carbon—

See this speech in context