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

I thank the member for Flinders for his question. On carbon pricing, perhaps I could use the following words to best describe the view of the government:

Perhaps our most important domestic policy was the decision of the Howard Government that Australia would implement a national carbon emissions trading system.

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Importantly, the Coalition pledged to establish a Climate Change Fund to reinvest a substantial proportion of emissions trading revenues in clean energy technology, and support for households most affected by the impact of a carbon price … We hope that the new Government will take up this proposal.

Who spoke those words? The member for Flinders did. What did we do? Yes, we did follow in former Prime Minister Howard's economic footsteps, in line with his economic legacy—that is, as a rational man he realised that climate change is real, that it is caused by human activity and that the best way of tackling it is through an emissions trading scheme. Of course, what we have legislated for is a price on carbon now which is fixed and will take us to an emissions trading scheme in two years time. So I can inform the member for Flinders that if he wants to realise the vision that he spoke so eloquently about in his speech, presumably to the Sydney Institute, in April 2008, what he should be saying in this parliament is stick with the policies of this government because that will get us an emissions trading scheme.

On further support for an emissions trading scheme—

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