Rowan Ramsey (Grey, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, my question is to the Treasurer. I refer the Treasurer to an article by Australian Workers Union National Secretary Paul Howes in The Australian Worker magazine, which reads:

The AWU has made it clear that not one Australian steel worker, aluminium worker, cement worker, glass worker or any other member should find their job security under threat because of the proposed Carbon Tax.

Has the Treasurer given Mr Howes a guarantee that no jobs will be lost as a result of the government's carbon tax?

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

The very reason we are dealing with dangerous climate change and carbon pollution is so that we can preserve the jobs of the future, so our country does not fall so far behind, so that our important industries like steel and coal are not under threat from carbon tariffs. We understand the need to deal with carbon pollution. We also understand that, particularly when it comes to trade-exposed industries, there will need to be assistance. We understand that. It was understood by the previous government. It was understood by former Prime Minister Howard. It was understood by the member for Wentworth. It is not understood by this Leader of the Opposition and certainly not understood by the shadow Treasurer.

We have a commitment to supporting employment in Australia and making our economy much more prosperous. The only growth future that we have is a low-pollution growth future. If we do not begin to make a move here, we will be left behind and so many of our important industries will be left stranded. But those on that side of the House do not have the gumption to stand up and take the really difficult decisions. We on this side of the House know how important it is to make sure we make the transition to a low-pollution economy of the future. So we drive the investment in renewable energy; that is why we need a price on carbon. We need a price on carbon so we can continue to be a great trading nation, so that all of those people who work in energy intensive industries are not discriminated against in international trade.

Mr Tony Smith interjecting—

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

The member for Casey is warned!

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

We understand all of these things because we understand the need to really embrace the big challenges of the future. Just as we had the gumption to stand up during the global recession, just as we have had the gumption to deal with the issues that have arisen from the floods in Queensland and elsewhere, we understand the importance of taking the hard decisions. Those on that side of the House do not understand that. They are not tough enough to face up to these challenges. The Leader of the Opposition over there wants to say no to everything. He wants to be a political opportunist.

Rowan Ramsey (Grey, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, a point of order on relevance: I did ask the Treasurer about an Australian jobs guarantee specifically to Mr Howes. He is straying onto the opposition's attitude on carbon taxes.

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

The Treasurer will relate his comments directly to the question.

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

What motivates everybody in the Labor Party is jobs. That is what motivates everybody on this side of the House. That is what motivates us. We know your record when it comes to jobs.

Honourable members interjecting—

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

Order! The Treasurer will resume his seat until the House comes to order. The Treasurer has the call.

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

During the global recession, we on this side of the House stood up for Australian jobs and they sent up the white flag. Nothing was more embarrassing than the performance of the now Leader of the Opposition. He was up there in the dining room with the former Treasurer when the key vote was going on. He could not muster enough conviction to come into the House and vote for Australian jobs. Everybody remembers that evening in this House because they would not stand up for Australian jobs. They never have and they never will.

Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The only export industry we will have is jobs going out of the country.

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

Order! The member for Riverina should realise this is not the last minute of the adjournment and he has not got the call. He should sit there quietly if he wants to still be here for the last minute of the adjournment. The member for Reid, who has waited patiently, now has the call.

John Murphy (Reid, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency. Will the minister outline the government's plans to take strong action on climate change through the introduction of a carbon price? Why is it important that the policy design be based on fact? How have these plans been received and what is the government's response?

Don Randall (Canning, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Local Government) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Boring!

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

Order! If the member for Canning has come to that conclusion already, he might voluntarily go, but he will sit there quietly if he is staying. The Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency has the call.

Greg Combet (Charlton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you to the member for Reid for his question. To meet the challenge of climate change we need to embark on a long-term transformation of our economy. We have got to break the link between economic growth and growth in our pollution. We have got to continue to improve living standards, improve employment, improve growth, improve productivity, but do it in an environmentally sustainable way. Economies that make that transformation in the 21st century are the economies that will have the competitive edge. Tackling climate change by pricing carbon is going to position our economy to be competitive in the long term. To set up this country and our economy for that historic transformation we have to overcome some old mindsets. We cannot afford to revert to the old discredited, protectionist, anti-market instincts of the past. We have to continue with the tradition of economic reform that has characterised the last 25 years of public policy making in this country, in particular, and we have to be honest about the challenge that is ahead of us. The Leader of the Opposition is failing on both of those fronts. He attempts to deceive, to misrepresent the facts and he has abandoned economic reform.

Consider some of the deceptions and misrepresentations of the facts that the Leader of the Opposition has engaged in. A week or so ago he claimed that the Climate Commission's new science report vindicated his subsidies for polluters policy. In fact, when you look at the report it explicitly states that policies like subsidies for polluters 'have the potential to lock in more severe climate change for the future'. It is an explicit, wilful, misrepresentation of the facts. He has also consistently misrepresented Professor Garnaut's work, including in question time yesterday and again in question time today. He has completely misrepresented, deliberately and wilfully, the proposition put forward for an independent committee to consider the circumstances of setting targets and caps and making recommendations to government and parliament about them. He has been travelling around the country visiting regions and workplaces, consistently misrepresenting—

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

Mr Speaker, on a point of order: the minister must know that making such a charge against the Leader of the Opposition can only be done by a substantive motion, not by rhetoric, and I would ask you to ask him to withdraw it.

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

The qualifier that was used does put it into the bounds of something that I should ask the minister to withdraw. It changes the way in which it is constructed within the House.

Greg Combet (Charlton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I withdraw, Mr Speaker.

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

I thank the minister.

Greg Combet (Charlton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On his scare campaign, the Leader of the Opposition consistently refers to some modelling done under the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme by the Treasury and the scenario of a $26 a tonne carbon price and then goes on to completely misrepresent the findings in relation to the price impacts. One clear example on his scare campaign tour around the country has been his claim that there would be a five per cent increase in food prices when the publicly available modelling that he is relying upon clearly demonstrates and states a 0.6 to 0.8 per cent increase in food prices. He is completely misrepresenting the facts and totally and conveniently ignoring the fact that under that arrangement the government had undertaken to provide generous household assistance. It goes on and on and on. The opposition leader's record on this issue is a disgraceful catalogue of serial misrepresentations, mindless negativity—no, no, no; stop, stop, stop—and it is unbecoming of a person who seeks the leadership of this nation.

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

I ask that further question be placed on the Notice Paper.