Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

The business community are crying out for certainty. The chief executive of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Andrew Mackellar, said this:

For the sake of certainty and the achievement of our emissions reduction goals, the Safeguard Mechanism must pass parliament.

Just this morning, the former energy security board chair, Kerry Schott—appointed by those opposite, not by us; by the former coalition government—said:

It would be a great shame—in fact, it would be really awful—if the safeguard mechanism didn't get up. It really must be passed to be able to meet the 43 per cent target that the government has set.

But those opposite just stand in the way. They are so determined to say no to absolutely everything that they're now even saying no to their own policy.

In spite of the fact that the Leader of the Opposition told the Financial Review conference that all these businesses were saying they were okay with the coalition saying no, the truth is that they can't name any of the significant industry groups who are saying anything other than, 'Put this through.' AiG, ACCI and the Business Council of Australia all know that this has got to get done.

See this speech in context