Luke Hartsuyker (Cowper, National Party, Deputy Manager of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Hansard source

I withdraw, Mr Deputy Speaker. We saw the Prime Minister abandon her sell job. She abandoned the job of trying to convince the Australian people that this toxic tax was good for them. She abandoned any notion that that was going to be good for them. In fact, she has done everything she can to change the subject. We heard the Prime Minister talking about the VFT, the very worthwhile notion of the disability insurance scheme and hospital reform—anything but the toxic carbon tax. Anything that she could get in the news cycle apart from the carbon tax was mentioned by this Prime Minister.

The government talks about the fact that many of our industries will be protected by a range of subsidies. What international investor and what Australian investor would want to invest in an industry that will be dependent on government subsidy for the rest of its life? What a ridiculous situation to put our very fine industries in, a position where for the foreseeable future they are dependent on government largesse—largesse that can be taken away with the stroke of a pen. She would be making our very important industries dependent on government subsidies to survive. It is an absolutely ridiculous situation. It is an absolutely ridiculous policy. The Prime Minister also needs to explain the untruths that she is peddling about the rest of the world allegedly running lemming-like to throw themselves over a cliff, just like she is trying to do to the Australian economy. She is trying to claim that the US is making great strides in relation to an emissions trading scheme. The reality is that is false; that is untrue. We saw the 10 western American states abandon their plans for an ETS. We saw the eastern state of New Jersey withdraw from a carbon trading scheme. We saw the closure of the carbon exchange in Chicago.

I see the Labor members shaking their heads. Their constituents are shaking their heads that their local members would be imposing such a tax on them. We see the US retreating from a carbon regime. The New Jersey governor, Chris Christie, said that the scheme:

… does nothing more than tax electricity, tax our citizens and tax our businesses with no discernible or measurable impact upon our environment.

I think he has captured the situation in Australia perfectly.

We have a government that has attempted to mislead the Australian people. We have a Prime Minister who refuses to say why she is imposing this tax. We have a Prime Minister who promised to wear out her shoe leather, but she did nothing of the sort. After a few days out in the field she saw the response the Australian people were giving and she ran for cover—and she has got a lot more running to do before the next election.

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