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

The answer is that we have a fixed price period before we move to a floating price—a very simple answer, but one that those opposite will not acknowledge because they are so embarrassed about their incapacity to respond to dangerous climate change and the fact that their policy is such an embarrassment. What they are going to do is to tax the average family $1,200 and give that money to big business, whereas our scheme works the opposite way. What we do is have the large polluters pay money for their pollution. What we do is assist industry with that money and we also provide assistance to punters in the community. Those on the other side have an opposite approach. What they will do is tax punters. You are so embarrassed by that fact that you come in here and try to discredit a carbon pricing scheme which is delivering reductions in emissions and making sure that we will be a prosperous country in the rest of this century. Shame on you.

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