Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That so much of the standing and sessional orders be suspended as would prevent the Member for Warringah moving immediately—

That this House calls on the Prime Minister to explain to the Australian people why she arrogantly refuses to give them a vote on whether Australia should introduce a carbon tax, a vote that she denied them at the last election when she said "there will be no carbon tax under a Government I lead", and now rules out a plebiscite. If the Prime Minister thinks the Australian people want a carbon tax, why is she so scared to give the people their say?

This motion to suspend standing orders is necessary because this debate and this plebiscite cannot wait. We have a government which is now rushing to sneak through this parliament a carbon tax for which it has no mandate whatsoever. It is typical of this frightened and floundering Prime Minister that she has yet again scurried from the chamber rather than stay for this debate, listen to what people have to say and defend her position. No previous Prime Minister in this House would have run away from debate the way this Prime Minister has. She runs away from debate and now she is running away from a vote on the biggest policy change that this parliament has ever been asked to make. She is running away from a vote on the biggest decision and the biggest change that the Australian people have ever been asked to contemplate.

This cannot wait, because the first task of national leadership is to tell the truth. That is the first task of national leadership. The first task of national leadership is to tell the truth when the Australian people are listening before an election. What we had from this Prime Minister was a complete deceit before the last election. Let us not forget what she said six days before the last election. These are words that will haunt her to her political grave and these are words that will echo around this chamber again and again until this government is defeated. She said before the last election, 'There will be no carbon tax under a government I lead.'

Having failed to seek a mandate at the last election, having refused to seek a mandate at the next election, there must be a vote now. There must be a vote now so that the Australian people can have their say on this massive change. Let no-one be under any illusion about the extent of the change that the Prime Minister wants to foist upon them without a mandate. This is the biggest single policy change in our history. This is not just a tax change. This is not just a revenue measure. This is a tax that purports to change the very way we live. This is a tax that proposes to change the very way we work. Every aspect of Australians' way of life and every aspect of Australians' way of work will be affected by this tax. That is why it is absolutely imperative that standing orders be suspended so that the Prime Minister can explain. A change of this magnitude must be put to the people first. There is no recent Prime Minister who would have run away from taking this tax to the people. We used to hear from the Prime Minister about the GST. She does not refer to the GST anymore because Prime Minister Howard had the guts to take his tax change to the people at the 1998 election. Prime Minister Howard had the guts to do it and this Prime Minister should also have the guts to face the people at a vote. She should have the guts, she should have the ticker and she should have the honesty to face the people at a vote.

Let there be no doubt in this chamber about the impact of this carbon tax should it go ahead. There will be a 25 per cent increase in the price of electricity, and that is just for starters. This suspension is urgent because this matter cannot wait. There will be a 6½c a litre increase in the price of petrol, and that is just for starters. There will be an up to five per cent increase in the price of groceries, and that is just for starters. There will be 16 major coalmines closed, and that is just for starters. Standing orders must be suspended because the fate of those mines and those workers must be debated now—their fate should be put to a vote of the Australian people.

There will be 45,000 jobs lost in energy-intensive industries. There will be 126,000 jobs lost mainly in regional Australia. Isn't that why members opposite are so scared of this tax? Isn't that why members opposite are openly talking to journalists about whether this Prime Minister can survive? The only job that this Prime Minister is interested in, it seems, is her own job. We know her record. She sabotaged the former Prime Minister, the member for Griffith, over the emissions trading scheme. It is urgent that we suspend standing orders so that she can explain herself. She deceived the Australian people at the last election and now—and this is why standing orders should be suspended—she is trying to deny the Australian people a vote on this matter, which is absolutely vital to their future.

It seems that this Prime Minister is now deaf to everyone. When Paul Howes, the man who more than anyone else put her into the leadership, says, 'I want a guarantee from you, Prime Minister, that not a single job will be lost,' she does not listen. When Jennie George, former President of the ACTU, says, 'I want a guarantee from you, Prime Minister, that the steel industry will be wholly exempt from a carbon tax,' she does not listen. We know that members on her own backbench, such as the member for Throsby and the member for Cunningham, are now terrified of what a carbon tax will do to jobs in their electorates. We know that the member for Capricornia is terrified about the closure of multiple coalmines in her electorate.

Why won't the Prime Minister listen? Why won't she listen to her own backbench? Why won't she, above all else, listen to the verdict of the Australian people? The first duty of any democratic politician is to tell the truth and then to trust the people. Tell the truth and trust the people are the duties of a democratic politician and this is what this Prime Minister must do. She must tell the truth and she must trust the people. That is why standing orders should be suspended so that for once, just for once, we can hear the truth from this Prime Minister.

By not listening to anyone anymore, who does this Prime Minister most resemble? Her predecessor. Remember her predecessor. Remember what it was like 12 months ago when we heard constant off-the-record briefings from members opposite to journalists—the Prime Minister will not listen, the Prime Minister is a dictator, the Prime Minister has abolished cabinet government, the Prime Minister has lost his way. I tell you what: this Prime Minister has lost her way. She is more lost than he was. That is why, even at this late stage, she should start listening and, most of all, she should start listening to the people.

Things are so bad for this Prime Minister that just about every broken-down old Labor warhorse now wants to come to Canberra to rescue the situation. Even Peter Beattie wants to come to Canberra. Even Morris Iemma wants to come to Canberra. Morris Iemma would be worth while having in this parliament because he understands the Hawker Britton style; he understands government that is all spin and no substance. Why don't we have him here as a reproach to the Sussex Street death squads that have done so much damage to Labor. What we want above all else is democracy, not hypocrisy, and that is why standing orders should be suspended. That is why we need a vote.

See this speech in context