Karen Andrews (McPherson, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Let me start with words 'sovereign risk'. For the last 10 minutes we did not hear those words very often from the member for Fraser and they are the words inherent in today's MPI. Let me add to them the words 'Labor government'—so 'sovereign risk, Labor government'—because they go together. They are words that we are getting very used to hearing, and it is very sad that because of the Labor government Australia is in very dire circumstances, circumstances that it does not need to be in, that it should not be in. Sovereign risk in Australia is now here courtesy of an incompetent Labor government, one that should be removed.

There is a very long list of bad decisions by this Labor government and it is headlined by the world's biggest carbon tax, a toxic tax on working families and on household budgets. This government should be ashamed that it has failed to support our working families. It has further increased the cost of living here in Australia and put significantly more pressure on our working families and, particularly, on our businesses.

Labor is trying to convince Australians that the carbon tax will be a great initiative for our country. In fact it was only earlier today that the Acting Prime Minister said that the government was proud to introduce a price on carbon. Is the government also proud to say to the Australian people that they are proud of reneging on the promise that they made before the last election not to introduce a carbon tax? Does that make the government proud? Does that make every Labor member in the House of Representatives who was elected on the promise not to introduce a carbon tax feel proud? Will each member feel proud when they face their constituents at the next election knowing that they did not honour their commitments the last time they were elected? Will they feel proud then? I doubt it. They should not.

The government keeps reiterating that this carbon tax will only apply to the top 500 polluters, but it has not been able to identify who they are.

Debate interrupted.

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