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

I do not accept the claims made by the member for Herbert, but I absolutely understand the importance of the canegrowing industry to my home state of Queensland. It is a very important industry and one which we seek to foster and to support as much as we possibly can. It is going to be a very important industry for Queensland for a long time to come as we see more and more investment in agriculture in this country, particularly in my home state of Queensland.

That investment will continue with a carbon price, because this economy will grow and it will grow strongly. It can grow and grow strongly with a carbon price, because what we can do is use energy more efficiently and also drive the investment in renewable industry. There is no industry that can be more to the forefront of that than the sugar industry, which is why we do need a carbon price. It is to encourage investment in more energy efficient practices and, in some cases, driven by the products of the—

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