Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister and follows on to his answers to my previous questions. I ask the Prime Minister whether he has read the submission to his emissions trading task group from the Business Council of Australia, which says:

Countries will need to agree to a binding emission reduction with both immediate and long term targets and target pathways in between if an environmental impact is to be achieved.

And it goes on:

The long term targets need to link to commercial investment horizons, so that investment decisions are sensibly informed.

Does the Prime Minister understand that the business community needs long-term emissions targets to give it certainty for investment?

John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The direct answer to the first part of the question is no, I have not read that particular submission, but I am generally aware of the views of the Business Council and they are being fed into this process. As I said earlier, I will await the conclusions of the task force and the government will respond appropriately.