Sarah Henderson (Corangamite, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Look at the arrogance of the member opposite. Let me tell you: I can say right now that, if there is one policy that lost the faith of the people in the government under Labor, it was the carbon tax. The carbon tax was an absolute disgrace. The people of Geelong knew it, the people of Corangamite knew it and the people of Australia knew it. It cost each household, on average, $550. It cost manufacturing $1.1 billion, and members opposite did not even have the foresight to compensate small businesses, who paid the price of a reckless policy which did nothing to drive down emissions.

We have a very proud record on the environment. More than $2 billion over the next four years is being invested in managing Australia's natural resources, including our 20 million trees program and our National Landcare programs. We have achieved the lowest emissions in 10 years without the painful, job-destroying carbon tax that members opposite want to bring back if they win government. Let me reiterate: Australia's emissions have fallen to their lowest level for a single quarter in 10 years according to the Department of the Environment's latest quarterly update of the national greenhouse gas inventory. Emissions fell by half a million tonnes between the December quarter 2014 and the March quarter 2015. That is a 0.4 per cent reduction in trend terms and 0.5 per cent on a seasonally adjusted basis. Our emissions per person are now at their lowest level in 25 years, so I say to members opposite: do not get caught up in ideology. Look at what we are achieving.

Opposition members interjecting—

There is laughter from members opposite. The fact is that our policies are working. The renewable energy target, an initiative of the Howard government, has helped 2.4 million homes with solar installations—delivering, on average, a $3,000 subsidy to every home. That has been an incredibly important program as part of our commitment to renewable energy. Now we hear the aspirations of those opposite: 50 per cent renewable energy by 2030. What an absolute joke—they have no idea what this is going to cost. They just pluck a figure out of the air and they make it up as they go along. That is what the Labor Party does.

It is a disgrace. Even the unions know it. They are already calling for an agency to be set up to compensate workers—the thousands of people who will lose their jobs because of this reckless policy. Those opposite are all talk and no action when it comes to the environment, and their record proves it.

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