House debates
Thursday, 21 November 2013
Bills
Clean Energy Legislation (Carbon Tax Repeal) Bill 2013, Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas (Import Levy) Amendment (Carbon Tax Repeal) Bill 2013, Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas (Import Levy) (Transitional Provisions) Bill 2013, Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas (Manufacture Levy) Amendment (Carbon Tax Repeal) Bill 2013, True-up Shortfall Levy (General) (Carbon Tax Repeal) Bill 2013, True-up Shortfall Levy (Excise) (Carbon Tax Repeal) Bill 2013, Climate Change Authority (Abolition) Bill 2013, Customs Tariff Amendment (Carbon Tax Repeal) Bill 2013, Excise Tariff Amendment (Carbon Tax Repeal) Bill 2013, Clean Energy (Income Tax Rates and Other Amendments) Bill 2013, Clean Energy Finance Corporation (Abolition) Bill 2013; Consideration in Detail
1:42 pm
Sarah Henderson (Corangamite, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source
On these bills before the House there must be no ifs, no buts. The world's largest carbon tax must go. This is the solemn commitment of the Abbott government. It is an insidious, jobs-destroying tax. Even the member for Griffith, when he was Prime Minister conceded that the carbon tax was driving up the cost of living and hurting families. Members opposite are persisting with a tax that they know is hurting families, they know is hurting business, they know is driving up the cost of living and they know the people of Australia do not want.
Labor's attempts to introduce amendments to introduce an emissions trading scheme are simply an exercise in rebadging. It is a tax—lock, stock and barrel. The people of Corangamite, the people of Geelong, will not be fooled by Labor's rhetoric. They understand that, whether you are a worker from Alcoa or Ford, a small business operator from Belmont or a dairy farmer in Birregurra or Colac, this is a tax which makes no sense. This is a tax on jobs and on electricity. This is a tax on Geelong and a tax on the people of Corangamite.
The people of my electorate will not forget that great big deception in 2010 from former Prime Minister Gillard: 'There will be no carbon tax under the government I lead.' Today in this place, including what we have just heard from the member for Scullin, we hear a continuing deception about our government's commitment to climate change. We are committed to tackling climate change. We are committed to reducing CO2 emissions but we are not going to damage this nation irreparably in the process.
The futility of a carbon tax, by whatever name Labor wishes to call it, was summed up perfectly by Labor's former climate change minister Senator Wong. On 6 February 2008, she said:
… the introduction of a carbon price ahead of effective international action can lead to perverse incentives for such industries to relocate or source production offshore.
There is no point imposing domestically a carbon price which results in emissions and production transferring internationally for no environmental gain.
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