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

I understand that members of the opposition frontbench will do anything to distract Australians from the very simple truth behind this carbon pricing debate. And the very simple truth behind this carbon pricing debate is that I believe climate change is real; the Leader of the Opposition does not. I believe we have to cut carbon pollution; the Leader of the Opposition has plans to see carbon pollution rise. I believe big polluters should pay; the Leader of the Opposition wants to take funds from Australian families and give them to big polluters. I believe Australian families and pensioners should be assisted; the Leader of the Opposition wants to claw that assistance away from pensioners and Australian families—take money away from people who are already challenged by cost-of-living pressures. I want to protect Australian jobs, which is why the government have a proud record of supporting Australian employment, including during the global financial crisis and continuing with that support to the present day with 750,000 jobs created so far and half a million more to be created in the two years to come. The Leader of the Opposition literally slept through the key measures to support Australian jobs during the days of the global financial crisis. He literally could not be bothered getting out of bed to protect the Australian jobs. Through their interjections and bellowing, through their belief that if you shout loud enough someone will believe you, I understand that the Leader of the Opposition just wants to distract from all of this. But the truth could not be clearer. We will put a price on carbon pollution. We will put it on the big polluters. We will provide assistance to Australian families. We will protect Australian jobs. And we will tackle climate change.

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