Bruce Billson (Dunkley, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Small Business, Competition Policy and Consumer Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Can the Prime Minister confirm that under her carbon tax Australia will meet its abatement target in 2020 only if Australian businesses purchase $3.5 billion of carbon credits from foreign carbon traders? Prime Minister, what is the point of a carbon tax if it does not actually reduce Australia's own domestic emissions?

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

Of course, I can confirm for the member who asked the question that the emissions trading scheme that we will reach after a three-year fixed price period will be an internationally linked scheme—absolutely. Yes, it will, because our nation is linked to the world. You have just heard the Minister for Resources and Energy talk about our history as a great trading nation. We live in a global economy. So, as we transform our economy to a clean energy future, we will ensure through international linking that we can get abatement in carbon pollution at the least cost, and that is achieved through international linking. Anyone who puts the contrary view to you is saying to you that we should transform our economy at a higher cost—that is, we should ask Australian businesses to pay more than they need to and put more on our economy than we need to for this transformation. Looking at the policies of the opposition in this regard, I think—

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

Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order on direct relevance. What is the point of a carbon tax if it does not actually reduce Australia's own domestic emissions? The Prime Minister really should address the—

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

The Leader of the Opposition will resume his seat. The Prime Minister has the call. She is responding to the question.

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

Of course, what we are hearing from the opposition—and here we go again—are a set of misrepresentations about the way in which carbon pricing works—just as they misrepresented what would happen about coal, just as they misrepresented what would happen about steel, just as they misrepresented what would happen about the cost of living, just as they have misrepresented, every step of the way, every aspect of this scheme. Here we go again. The question that was asked by the member went to international linking. Let me explain to him: yes, it is a linked scheme because that enables us to reduce carbon pollution at the least possible cost. There was a period when the opposition understood this and I refer them to the words of their spokesperson who said:

We have unashamedly tried to source the cheapest abatement because once verified, a tonne of carbon is a tonne of carbon. And that is all that the planet knows.

Because of the usual cheap politics we see, when the opposition or one of its spokespersons is in front of an audience where they think that is going to be a good message or they are in front of perhaps a business audience and they want to explain that their policy is about cheap abatement, they will say something about that. But then in a community meeting, when they think they might get away with stoking some fears about the rest of the world, they say something different. For example, the Leader of the Opposition said in complete contradiction of his spokesperson:

Our five per cent target is to be achieved entirely within Australia, no taxpayers' funds would be spent overseas under the policy we announced.

What the Leader of the Opposition did not go on to say is: if you do not have international linking the cost per tonne of abatement is higher. Consequently to reach the bipartisan targets of five per cent, the cost per tonne of abatement paid under the opposition's policy would be greater than under the government's policy.

Mr Hunt interjecting —

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

Order! The member for Flinders is warned.

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

It is that that leads to the calculation that the opposition's policy would cost Australian families $1,300. We used to use a lower figure of $720 until they ruled out international linking and that is what made that figure $1,300. The Leader of the Opposition stands for abatement at the greatest possible cost. We stand for a modern economy, a clean energy future and getting there in the cheapest possible way. (Time expired)