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

I particularly want to thank the member for Herbert for his second question on the environment in two days. Incidentally, that is as many questions as the entire Labor Party have mustered between them in almost two years. The member for Herbert is not just a great champion of the environment. Yesterday as I was completing my answer, and I spoke to him just a little bit afterwards, I could detect just a hint of hurt in his eyes that I had not used the same terms to describe him as I had for the member for Pearce—good looking, charming and intelligent. I just want to affirm to the House that all those terms apply, as well as many other encomiums. The member for Herbert is not just all of those things. He is a great fighter for the reef and for the families of Herbert. He voted to abolish the carbon tax and to deliver a $550 a year benefit for the households of Herbert. That meant a $35 refund, a $35 benefit, for local ratepayers in the city of Townsville.

A government member: Electricity bills.

Yes, a reduction of up to 9.4 per cent in electricity bills for Queensland families. But that is going to change, isn't it? What we took away, you are about to give back. We reduced electricity prices. We reduced gas prices. For a fishing vessel in Townsville, there was a $16,000 reduction in the cost of re-gassing as they go out to fill up. That is what we saw when we took away the carbon tax. The member for Herbert asked about threats to those savings, and there are some threats. This is the year of Labor's big ideas. That is going swimmingly well, isn't it?

A government member: It is a festival!

Yes, a festival of big ideas. It might perhaps be better described as a year of old ideas. We heard something from the member for McMahon, just a week ago, at the Press Club. What are they going to do? They are going to bring back the carbon tax. But what we read in the papers today is that they are not just going to bring back the carbon tax, they are going to bring back the architect. Greg Combet is back to redraft the carbon tax. So what are we going to see? A $550 increase for families. There will be increased electricity prices for families, increased electricity prices for small businesses and increased electricity prices for pensioners. So it is not just the carbon tax that is back. The architect is back. The bills are back. Electricity prices are going up. In the year of old ideas, this is a bad one that you should reject.

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