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

If you want to hear about a money-go-round, let me just run through the $30 billion which, when they were in government, the Labor Party gave as part and parcel of their carbon tax to industry and firms in Australia.

Under us you get no carbon tax but you get tax cuts. Families get a benefit of $550 and they also get the savings of lower taxes. That is the reality. But we have just heard 10 minutes of ad hominem from the former Treasurer of Australia. You remember? Four consecutive surpluses?

Government members: Yes!

Maybe not! So let's just run through this because I think it is very important. They make all this noise about the fact that, allegedly, there are payments to those who produce emissions under the coalition's program. Well, if they reduce emissions—if they are farmers, if they are small businesses or if they are local operators—they will receive a benefit. But they gave $30 billion, no strings attached, to businesses and heavy industry around the country as part of the carbon tax money-go-round.

Let me start with the Jobs and Competitiveness Program. It had no strings attached: $9.2 billion! And these are the people they demonise: firms making steel, paper, glass, aluminium, zinc and cement. These are the very firms they demonise but they gave them the windfall of their lives.

Most interestingly here, there was a question asked—and I really want the House to listen to this, and I would love the member for McMahon to have the courage to face across the chamber—about the member for Fairfax. Yesterday, the member for Fairfax was asked whether or not he would receive any benefit under the emissions reduction fund. His answer was, 'I don't think there are any prospects that I am personally aware of, of that happening in relation to my companies.' However, I thought to myself when that question was asked: did he happened to receive any windfall benefit under the carbon tax? Surely, the member for Fairfax's company would not have received a windfall benefit under the carbon tax?

The advice that I have just received from my office in relation to the figures provided by the Clean Energy Regulator is that last financial year alone Queensland Nickel received $11.6 million. Queensland Nicholas received $11.6 million of free permits under Labor's carbon tax! It was $11 million for the nickel component and $600,000 for the ammonia. They received free permits of $11.6 million—

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