Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I see that the embarrassment about the refugee and asylum position of the opposition continues. They have given up defending it because it is indefensible and in breach of the national interest.

In relation to the question from the Leader of the National Party—who is now trying desperately to cover up that the opposition is in a position that trashes the national interest and knows it cannot defend it—what I say is this: we in this parliament are dealing with the clean energy legislation. We are debating it; we will be voting on it. And when we vote on it we will be voting on whether or not members of parliament want a clean energy future. I believe climate change is real. I know that, from time to time, the Leader of the Opposition denies that, in the way that he denies other demonstrable facts.

I believe that climate change is real. I have accepted the advice of the economists that the cheapest way of us cutting carbon pollution is to put a price on carbon. I know the Leader of the Opposition denies that fact, too, and wants to slug families $1,300 a year to pay for his plan, which will fail.

There is a theme here: high price leading to failure—that is the Leader of the Opposition's approach. In this parliament we will act because it is in our national interest to act soon. There is a bipartisan target of cutting carbon pollution by five per cent by 2020. It is therefore in the nation's interest to start moving towards that target as soon as possible and in the cheapest possible way. So we will put a price on carbon through the legislation before this parliament. We will create a clean energy future with all the jobs and investment that will come with it. We will give people tax cuts and increases in family payments—

See this speech in context