Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Treasurer. I refer the Treasurer to his statement on 12 August last year, just nine days before the election, when he was asked on The 7.30 Report:

… are you going to rule out a carbon tax in the next term of the Government - yes or no?

to which he replied:

We have made our position very clear. We have ruled it out.

Treasurer, why should the Australian people ever believe anything you say again?

Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the shadow Treasurer for asking me the same question he asked me before and the answer is, of course, the same. We have been committed to an emissions trading system for many years. The shadow Treasurer was committed to an emissions trading system until about a year or a year and a half ago when he changed his mind, proving yet again that he has no principles whatsoever. We are committed to an emissions trading scheme. We have announced a scheme with a fixed price moving to a floating price. That is what we have done. We said all the way through the election campaign we were determined to price carbon.

Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, a point of order on relevance: the Treasurer ruled out a carbon tax before the election; now he wants to introduce one.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member for North Sydney will resume his seat. The question went on to ask why people should ever believe anything the Treasurer said, which opens the question more than just slightly. The Deputy Prime Minister has the call.

Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I was drawing a very clear contrast with our policy and that of the now opposition. The now opposition have a plan to tax families and to hand all of that money to polluters. That is what they are proposing to do—$10 billion worth of so-called direct action initiatives, we are told, which are going to be paid for by the Australian people and handed to the polluters. We, in contrast to them, will charge polluters and provide assistance to households and industry. You could not get a clearer contrast between both those approaches. Our approach is strongly supported by many others opposite, as I was saying before. I will quote the member for Wentworth, again from 8 February 2010:

Having the government pick projects for subsidy is a recipe for fiscal recklessness on a grand scale, and there will always be a temptation for projects to be selected for their political appeal.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The Treasurer will relate his remarks to the question.

Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What we have here is a scare campaign being run by a mob of people who have not a clue about what we need to do to protect our prosperity.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Treasurer will bring his answer to a close.

Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We know that they were missing in action when the global recession threatened. It took Labor to have the courage to put in place a range of policies to support employment and small business. It was opposed every step of the way. That was for the good of our country—

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Treasurer will bring his answer to a close.

Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

and so is our commitment to an emissions trading system.