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

Labor members of the Senate by-election team were proclaiming loudly in Perth last Thursday that they were 'scrapping the carbon tax'. Well, on the very day they said they were scrapping the carbon tax in Perth, they were supporting the carbon tax here in Canberra. You just cannot trust them.

This is a government that is determined to ease the cost of living pressures on families. We will do this not just by scrapping bad taxes and not just by eliminating unnecessary regulation, but by boosting economic growth through sensible free trade agreements with our major trading partners. We are pursuing a free trade agreement with Japan and a free trade agreement with China to complement the free trade agreement we have already secured with Korea. We are doing so for this reason: trade means jobs. Freer trade benefits both countries. It benefits the buyer, it benefits the seller and it is good for workers and families in both countries, and that is what we want. We want a strong and more prosperous Australia, in a stronger and more prosperous world.

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