Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Minister for the Environment) Share this | Hansard source

I want to thank the member for Durack, because the member for Durack represents an export electorate—an electorate which produces minerals, energy, crops and, in particular, livestock. She knows that competitiveness is absolutely essential, in this global environment, to creating and maintaining jobs. So, against that background, when you see that a particular firm is faced with a $250,000 bill—that is $19,000 a month plus GST—just for the carbon tax, you have to ask yourself: how does this create jobs; how does this help competitiveness; how does this help Australian exports; and how does this help Australians maintain the ability to be competitive?

The answer is that what we see from Derby Industries at Talloman is a very simple proposition. They are hit with the carbon tax through their electricity bills. But abattoirs around the country are not just hit with that; they have to pay the carbon tax through their electricity bills but they also have to pay the carbon tax through the direct emissions. They pay the carbon tax through gas; they pay the carbon tax through diesel generation; they pay the carbon tax through refrigerants. Do you know what—if the Leader of the Opposition gets his way they will also pay the carbon tax on their trucks, because every time they drive their goods to market or from the processing centre, under his proposal there will be a carbon tax on trucks. We are waiting for the esteemed Leader of the Opposition to say whether or not he still stands by a carbon tax on trucks, because that is his policy.

Beyond that, it is not just this one abattoir; it is also abattoirs such as Master Butchers—

Ms Rishworth interjecting—

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