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

On the question of timing of starting to address carbon pollution, I have been addressing that. I presume the shadow Treasurer must stand for starting in 2019 and trying to do it all in 12 months at some hideous cost per tonne of abatement rather than having our economy adjust over time, using the most efficient mechanism possible.

I presume in his question the shadow Treasurer was referring to some advertisements and comparisons that were done by the Australian Trade and Industry Alliance about the Australian scheme and the European scheme. As the Secretary of the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency made clear yesterday, those advertisements compare an overinflated number for Australian permits with only auction revenue from the introductory phase of the EU's emission trading scheme—or, put more simply, it is an apples to oranges comparison that does not stack up.

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