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 last week's G8 meeting, at which Russia, Japan and Canada advised that they would not join a second round of carbon cuts under the Kyoto protocol and President Obama restated the United States's opposition to the Kyoto protocol. Has the Treasurer commissioned Treasury modelling on the effect on our economy if Australia moves ahead of our major trading partners by introducing a carbon tax?

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

The government has commissioned modelling to deal with the creation of an emissions trading scheme; that is public knowledge, and we are awaiting that modelling. That modelling is conducted by professionals in the Treasury, and they are the very same people relied upon by those opposite when the former government, under Prime Minister Howard, was putting forward an emissions trading scheme. We will await the results of that modelling and that modelling will be made public, so I can say that to everybody in the House and to all of the Australian people. We will make the modelling available. Whether it has been conducted by Mr Stern or whether it has been conducted by Garnaut, modelling has shown that the cost of inaction is far higher than the cost of action. We know all of that and we also know that what the Prime Minister said before is just so true. The sooner we begin to move, the more important it is that we can have a gradual adjustment, because as a developed economy—

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

Mr Speaker—

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

Has the Treasurer concluded?