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

To the Leader of the Opposition's question, I say that we made a judgment about the price that was necessary to bring around a transformation in our economy to a clean energy future. It is true to say that the European price has been suppressed of late. I do not think there is any mystery about that, given the economic circumstances in Europe. If you looked at almost any indicator in the European economy you would see that it is depressed, because it is reflecting the economic turbulence that we have seen coming out of the sovereign debt crisis in Greece and more broadly. We determined that $23 a tonne was the appropriate price to get a transformation in our economy to a clean energy future. We obviously took the best possible advice too on the likely future of carbon pricing in Europe.

I would say to the Leader of the Opposition that because we have chosen the most effective mechanism to get change in our economy the price is $23 per tonne. What we know from the work of Treasury is that, under the scheme that the Leader of the Opposition peddles, the effective price is $62 a tonne. We also know that with our $23-a-tonne price there is assistance for trade-exposed businesses, families and pensioners in the form of pension increases, tax cuts and family payment increases. In contrast, the Leader of the Opposition's plan comes with a bill for working families of $1,300 each. If you want to look at the most cost-effective way of transforming our economy so that we seize a clean energy future, it is the carbon pricing package this government brought to this parliament and which will be implemented on 1 July. If you want a wasteful scheme, endorse the Leader of the Opposition's.

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