Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the Leader of the Opposition for that question, because I would have thought that anyone who has been listening to the debate in this country over the last five years knows that we are having a carbon price. I can well understand how sensitive he is about the assistance that we are providing to families through our carbon price assistance package, the clean energy package. I can see why he is so sensitive about the fact that we are providing additional assistance to pensioners, I can see why he is so sensitive about the fact that we are providing additional assistance to families and I can see why he is so, if you like, sensitive to the fact that we are providing assistance to trade-exposed industries. We make no apology whatsoever for providing this assistance to Australian families, because when there are deposits in their bank accounts they do need to know why they are there and where they came from. So he is very sensitive about this, but we are providing assistance to households and assistance to industry. That is how it should be as we make the transition to a cleaner carbon economy. We are putting in place a clean energy package because we understand that in the 21st century no first-class First World economy can be powered by anything other than clean energy and more efficient energy practices. That is why we are proud of the assistance we are providing.

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