Bob Baldwin (Paterson, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Tourism) Share this | Hansard source

I withdraw then. Our Prime Minister is the one who, with her hand on her heart just days before the election, promised the Australian people that there would be no carbon tax under the government she led. This is the Prime Minister who is determined to drive the Australian economy, Australian industry and Australian jobs over that cliff. Those members opposite are lining up and rushing to the cliff like lemmings. The reality is that members opposite, like lemmings, do not have the ability to think individually about self-preservation or preservation of others; they are just lined up to go over the cliff.

Each and every one of them stood with the Prime Minister. I did not hear one member of the Labor Party in those days before the election stand up and say, 'I disagree with the Prime Minister when she said that there will be no carbon tax under the government I lead.' I did not see one comment in the media. In fact the Deputy Prime Minister said that it was hysterical to consider that there would be a carbon tax. Not one member on that side said to the Prime Minister, 'I disagree with you, Prime Minister.' Not one of them said, 'I think we need to have a carbon tax because it is good for our economy, it is good for industry and it is good for Australian jobs'—not one. But they have all lined up like lemmings following this pursuit over the cliff. In following that pursuit they are breaking the basic promise that they went to the election with.

This Prime Minister also promised that she would seek broad consensus before she did anything of this sort. She would take the Australian people on the journey and she would actually assemble 150 Australians—never mind that the House of Representatives consists of 150 people—for the purpose and there would be deep and lasting consensus.

As I have travelled this country in my shadow portfolio visiting industry after industry and operator after operator and meeting with workers, I am yet to find any deep and lasting consensus in support of a carbon tax. In fact, the only deep and lasting consensus I can find is against the imposition of a carbon tax on our economy. Industry is scared and so, as a consequence, are those people employed in those industries. They are scared when they should not have to be. But there are the reports, including the Deloitte economic report commissioned by the Bligh Labor government, that say that in Queensland 21,000 jobs are predicted to go. Queensland Treasury modelling said that 12,000 jobs would go. The Victorian government commissioned Deloitte and they said that they would be 23,000 fewer jobs created across Victoria by 2015 as a result of this carbon tax, with the Latrobe Valley, Geelong, Port Phillip, Monash, Boroondara and Whitehorse the worst hit areas. In my home state of New South Wales, New South Wales Treasury modelling predicts 31,000 jobs will be lost by 2030, with 18½ thousand jobs gone in the Hunter Valley alone. Where are the voices standing up for those jobs in the Hunter Valley? I stand up for those jobs in the Hunter Valley. The member for Hunter supports the carbon tax; he said so in public meetings. He is quite happy to sacrifice those jobs. We have the member for Newcastle who, on the one hand, says how wonderful green energy is and, on the other hand, says it is fantastic we are building and upgrading more coal loaders to get more coal out of the area. You have the member for Shortland. But the one who will never be forgiven is the member for Charlton, the architect of the carbon tax. The people in his electorate in particular, those coalminers, those that work in various industries, will feel absolutely betrayed by this minister. As Englishman John Heywood said in 1546, 'There are none so blind as those who refuse to see and none so deaf as those who refuse to listen.' Well that about sums up this Labor-Green alliance. They refuse to see; they refuse to listen.

It would not matter what poll you turn to. There is no poll that, in the Prime Minister's own words, would show a 'deep and lasting consensus' or show any strong support for a carbon tax. People want to clean up the environment, and we agree with that. That is why the coalition have signed up, the same as the Labor Party, to reduce emissions by five per cent by 2020. It is our method of delivery that is different. Our method of delivery will not kill industry and jobs in this country like Labor's carbon tax.

If I need proof, I only to look at my own shadow ministry portfolio for tourism. The Tourism and Transport Forum, back in May this year, put out the report Carbon tax and tourism & travel—trade and global warming exposed. They said in that report that they supported a carbon tax. The Labor Party will love to repeat that to me, but have not read the fine print: providing there were compensation and transitional measures put in place for the tourism industry to address it. In that report they said that there would be 6,400 jobs lost mostly in regional and rural areas like Cairns, the Hunter Valley, across Australia, the Blue Mountains and in South Australia. The economic impact to this industry that brings in about $92 billion to the Australian economy would be between $600 million and $800 million per year. They said the only beneficiary in the industry of this carbon tax would be to the outward-bound market. Why would that be? If you fly in Australia, say between Sydney and Perth, you will pay a carbon tax. But if you fly from Sydney to LA there is no carbon tax. Already we are seeing a massive increase of Australians travelling overseas. In fact it has increased by more 11 per cent while inbound tourism has only increased by just over three per cent. According to this report, it will be exacerbated.

Ahead of the carbon tax, when the steel industry stood up, the Prime Minister rushed in and said the government would provide a package of around $100 million. The tourism industry, after the manufacturing industry, is the second largest employer in Australia. If you add to that the hospitality and restaurant industry, it is the largest employer. How much did they get, despite saying they would agree to the carbon tax if they got these eight recommendations through for a support package? Not one cent, so this large-scale employer will suffer dramatically. The only time the Prime Minister rushed in to help was when she was dragged in by Anna Bligh after the floods and cyclones and offered $6 million for the massive economic impact. There was nothing for northern Victoria, which also suffered floods; nothing for Western Australia, which also suffered floods; nothing for New South Wales, which also suffered floods; but there was a little bit for Queensland. At the same time, because Paul Howes clicked his fingers, $100 million dollars was offered. That is disgusting and an abuse of taxpayers' money.

These are the lemmings lining up at the cliff to jump over. The sad part is they are going to take Australian jobs and Australian industry with them, and destroy our economy. The idea of seeing some $57 billion per year going offshore to buy carbon credits when that money could be invested and spent here in direct action to fix the problem here at home is absolutely disgraceful. This government has a lot to answer to the Australian people.

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