Darren Chester (Gippsland, National Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Roads and Regional Transport) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in relation to the proposed carbon tax. It appears the Prime Minister has done a deal with the Greens and with the Independents, but she has not done a deal with Latrobe Valley power station workers and she has not done a deal with the Australian people. This Prime Minister has not dealt with her fundamental breach of trust—'There will be no carbon tax under a government I lead.' This begs the question: is she really leading this government? No, it is Bob Brown who is in power. Bob Brown was on TV last night and he was smiling way too much. When the Greens are smiling, regional Australians know they are about to cop it in the neck. They want to shut down the coal industry, shut down the export of live cattle, shut down rodeos and shut down steeplechases.

Regional Australians have had an absolute gutful of being told what to do by city based Greens and city based Labor MPs. What happened to your grand old party? You used to stand up for workers. What happened to your party? It is no wonder regional MPs on the other side are afraid to go home. I feel sorry for them. They want to seek refuge. They are probably lining up at the immig­ration minister's office now saying, 'Can I buy a boat?'

See this speech in context