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

My question is to the Prime Minister. Can the Prime Minister confirm that power prices have now risen 90 per cent under the Labor government, including 15 per cent in the last quarter, the largest quarterly increase on record, because the carbon tax is starting to do its job? Can the Prime Minister confirm that the whole point of the carbon tax is to put up electricity prices?

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

To the Leader of the Opposition I say: haven't we heard all this before? Here we are, with the Leader of the Opposition still trying to roll out his tired old fear campaign. In fact, so dusty and so tired is it that today, for his carbon-pricing stunt of the day, he went back to a business that he had been at last September. One can only assume that this is the start of a tour, a tour that will take him to Whyalla, where he will be saying to himself, 'Gee, why is this place still here? I thought it was going to be wiped off the map', that will take him to a coal mine, where he will look and say, 'Heavens! They appear to still be mining coal; I thought all this was going to be shut down', that will inevitably take him to a supermarket—

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

Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. The Prime Minister was asked about cost of living, which matters to ordinary Australians—and they deserve an answer. She should answer the question.

Ms Anna Burke (Chisholm, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Manager of Opposition Business will resume his seat. The Prime Minister has the call and will refer to the question before the chair.

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

As part of this continuing tired, old, fear campaign there was the Leader of the Opposition today, back at Universal Trusses! Now to the Leader of the Opposition's question: the purpose of putting a price on carbon is to reduce carbon pollution—that is, it has the same purpose as when former Prime Minister John Howard was out arguing for a price on carbon. It has the same purpose as when former opposition leader Brendan Nelson supported a price on carbon. It has the same purpose as when the member for Wentworth supported a price on carbon. It has the same purpose as when the Leader of the Opposition supported a price on carbon. The purpose of putting a price on carbon is to most efficiently reduce carbon pollution generated by the Australian economy, and no amount of fear campaigning from the opposition, no amount of tired old retreads, will change that simple fact.

Can I suggest to the Leader of the Opposition that he perhaps consider the words of one of his backbenchers, Dr Washer, the member for Moore, who, I think, very perceptively said:

We beat the drum too hard on the carbon tax—everyone has stopped listening to the sound of it. The marrow has gone out of it—we need to move on to other issues.

The Leader of the Opposition should listen to his back bench.

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

Madam Speaker, I ask a supplementary question. Does the Prime Minister seriously maintain that the constant increase in power prices, an increase which is just going to get worse as her carbon tax goes up and up and up, is of no concern to the forgotten families of Australia?

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

What I have just said to the Leader of the Opposition is that his fear campaign has been proved, and day by day is being proved, to be a con—a con on the Australian people. He has been out there trying to scare Australian families. Remember the $100 lamb roast? Has the Leader of the Opposition been to a supermarket and scoured through the meat to find one of those? This is the Leader of the Opposition's fear campaign running out of puff.

As for the families of Australia, let me assure the Leader of the Opposition that we as a government will continue to work with Australian families to assist them with their cost-of-living pressures. We are doing that through increasing family payments and through a historic increase in the pension, which we have built on. We are doing that by making sure that you do not pay a cent of tax for the first $18,200 that you earn. We are also doing that by providing the schoolkids bonus to help families with the cost of getting the kids to school. That is something that the shadow Treasurer has announced would be ripped away from Australian families—not even replaced by the former education tax rebate, just money directly ripped out of the pockets of Australian families. That is an opposition that has forgotten the needs of families in that extreme policy.