Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I am very happy to read from this document: 'Kevin Rudd and Labor removed the carbon tax'. Well, the carbon tax was so removed that they supported it—they voted to keep it in the Senate earlier today. But it is not just the deception pre the election; the deception continues to this very moment. Remember, Madam Speaker, just an hour or so ago, members opposite—the Labor Party—voted in the Senate to keep the carbon tax. This would come as a shock to the people of Western Australia who opened up their West Australian newspaper this morning, 20 March. What do they read? Answers from Joe Bullock, who I understand is the Labor Party Senate candidate: 'Labor is scrapping the carbon tax.' Well, they are so scrapping the carbon tax that they voted today in the Senate to keep the carbon tax.

The truth is you just cannot trust members opposite to tell the truth and you cannot trust them anywhere near an economy. The carbon tax is an act of economic vandalism that this government will remove and that members opposite will keep defending while there is political breath in their bodies because, whatever they say to the people, when it comes to this parliament they support the Greens. The unholy alliance between the Labor Party and the Greens: it is disowned in public but it is adhered to in this parliament. We are keeping our commitments and the Labor Party cannot help themselves—they are breaking theirs.

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