Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer her to a visit I made today to Arthur and Rita Clark at their fruit and vegetable shop in Queanbeyan, whose $6,000 a month power bill will increase by $1,500, and that is just for starters, under the government’s carbon tax. Why won’t the Prime Minister be honest with the Australian people about the impact of her carbon tax on the cost of food?

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question. As the Leader of the Opposition well knows, even in the words of his question he is continuing his campaign of misleading and generating fear amongst the Australian community. If the Leader of the Opposition today hung out at a fruit and vegetable shop and said to the owners of that shop the words he said to the parliament today, he has done them a great disservice. He has told them an untruth; he has told them something he knew not to be true at the time he said it, and he did it for no other purpose than to further his fear campaign and his political interests. It is not right to go around saying things that are untrue in order to generate fear in the Australian community, and that is what the Leader of the Opposition is doing.

I say to the Leader of the Opposition: we on this side stand for giving businesses, like the one that he went to today, certainty so that they know, as they make the arrangements for their business, what arrangements actually apply so that they can do their business plans with certainty. It seems to me a little interesting that at one point the Leader of the Opposition actually thought certainty was important for businesses. At one point, on 19 July, he was wandering around saying things like, ‘I think businesses deserve certainty,’ and, ‘I think what business needs is a period of certainty and stability.’ The shadow Treasurer said on 21 July:

We now accept the Australian people want certainty and stability out of Canberra.

Now, of course, what is the Leader of the Opposition promising Australian businesses? He said it on morning TV today. He was asked:

Big business is obviously a little concerned, a little confused. Where does it leave them in all of this?

The Leader of the Opposition said:

Well, completely up in the air and with no certainty.

With those words the Leader of the Opposition has named his own campaign—create fear and try to stop a confident nation dealing with the challenges of the future. If his fear campaign fails and we price carbon on 1 July 2012, as I intend to do, then he will go to the next election with a plan to wreck the Australian economy with economic vandalism, a plan to rip away from businesses the certainty that they need, a plan to trash this nation’s reputation in international markets, a plan to render void important investment decisions that Australian businesses have made, a plan to see electricity prices rise and rise because there is no certainty in investment in electricity, a plan to rip out of the hands of households the assistance we have given them, a plan to make sure that hardworking Australians have less money in their purses and their wallets than they have had before, and a plan to destroy Australia—

Honourable Members:

Honourable members interjecting—

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

If the Minister for Trade and the member for Flinders continue, they will be able to go outside and have a cup of tea while they have their discussion.

Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order. The Prime Minister was asked about power bills rising $1,500 for an average business. If she does not know the answer or refuses to come clean, you should ask her to sit down.

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

The Prime Minister is responding to the question.

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The answer to the question is: the figure is a product of a campaign that is designed to mislead and scare Australians. The political party in this parliament that stands for increasing power prices is the Liberal Party, with its plan for chaos and uncertainty. We will get on with the job of pricing carbon and assisting households on the way through.

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I ask a supplementary question of the Prime Minister. I refer the Prime Minister to the answer she has just given. She cannot tell people the rate of the carbon tax, she cannot tell people how long the carbon tax will last and she cannot tell people what the compensation will be. Where is the certainty in that, Prime Minister?

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That contribution reminds me of the Sunday that I sat with the Council of Australian Governments, with the leaders of the nation, and struck a new national health deal—and before I walked out of that room to announce it the Leader of the Opposition did a press conference to try and trash it. What he is doing now shows that either the Leader of the Opposition has paid no attention to this debate because he has been so keen to run his fear campaign, or his question now is once again intended to try and mislead the Australian people.

As the Leader of the Opposition well knows, what the government has announced is a carbon pricing mechanism. The government made it clear on the day of the announcement that we would be announcing the carbon price and the household and industry assistance, and then we would bring legislation to this parliament. And when we bring legislation to this parliament that is when it gets interesting, because, as the member for Wentworth reminded the world on BBC—he has gone global, Mr Speaker—his policy position of pricing carbon is supported by half the Liberal Party minus one. So on the day that the legislation comes into the parliament it will be very interesting to see how the Liberal Party responds, because I believe that there are Liberal Party members over there who are sick of the race baiting, there are Liberal Party members over there who are sick of seeing politics played with grief—

Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I raise a point of order. The Prime Minister is required to be directly relevant to the question. She was asked to end the uncertainty around her carbon tax plan and she was talking about everything other than carbon—

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

The Manager of Opposition Business will resume his seat. The Prime Minister has the call.

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I was asked about the further progress in carbon pricing and I am talking about the day of the vote, when members of the Liberal Party will be called to account. I do believe that there are Liberal Party members who are sick of the race baiting, sick of the politics being played with grief, who are pro the NBN, who are pro pricing carbon, who actually want to make a contribution to this country—

Honourable Members:

Honourable members interjecting—

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

The Prime Minister will resume her seat. There are a number of people in this House who could bother to spend a bit of time on self-reflection about the way they carry on within the House. That is on both sides. Respect is a word that I think has left the lexicon of many members of this place. They might just think about it. The Prime Minister has the call.

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On that day we will see who stands for a prosperous Australia, for the jobs of the future, for assisting households, for making sure that this nation does not get left behind the standards of the world. We will see who lives in the past, who stands for less prosperity, fewer jobs, who stands for rising power prices with no assistance. On that day we will record the vote. I believe that there are some Liberals who that day will walk into this place with a very heavy heart as they are forced to follow the Leader of the Opposition down his path of economic destruction.