Joel Fitzgibbon (Hunter, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Unfortunately, the member for Parkes has just given us a snapshot of what we can expect on Monday after the government's announcements on Sunday. The fact is that both sides of the parliament are committed to doing some­thing about climate change. Both major parties in this place have the same target on carbon reductions. The difference is that we have a market based mechanism—the most efficient and low-cost way of addressing this issue—and they have higher taxes to subsidise the big end of town. The member for Parkes has been irresponsible. He knows he is being irresponsible. He knows that that concrete plant has been marginal, at best, for a long, long time. He knows the area well. It is totally inappropriate and irresponsible for him to come in here and try to blame a carbon tax that is not yet announced for the closure of a plant which has been under review for a long, long time, and he knows it. If he had taken the opportunity to read the statement from the CEO of the company concerned, he would know that the company has attributed the closure of this plant to just about everything else bar the coming carbon tax—the age of the plant, the inefficiency of the plant, the isolation of the plant, the skills shortages in the area— (Time expired)

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