Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Is the Prime Minister aware that at a time of record high power bills and record low wages growth the former Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party has called on the Prime Minister to work with Labor on the National Energy Guarantee, saying:

The government needs to consider energy policy through the prism of securing bipartisan agreement with Labor, to establish a long-term, stable regulatory framework that will support private-sector investment …

Why won't the Prime Minister take the sage advice of the member for Curtin and work with Labor on energy policy that he's previously said he supports?

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm asked about energy policy and electricity prices by the Leader of the Opposition. I can assure him of one thing. This government will not introduce a carbon tax. But it's not so clear when it comes to the Labor Party. The shadow Attorney-General was asked by Laura Jayes today on Sky:

Will you have some form of carbon tax?

He said:

Well, obviously not. That’s not part of the policy.

She went on:

Are you ruling it out though?

He said:

I’m not going to rule it in or I’m not going to rule it out.

'I'm not going to play that game,' Mr Speaker! The Australian people have heard from the Labor Party about carbon taxes before. Even when they ruled them out they introduced them, as Julia Gillard did the carbon tax that would never be introduced, the carbon tax that they did introduce. It was the carbon tax that our government abolished when we came into government in 2013.

What the Leader of the Opposition doesn't understand is the difference between two numbers. Our government has a responsible emissions reduction target of 26 per cent, meeting our commitments—

Mr Frydenberg interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Treasurer will cease interjecting. The Leader of the Opposition on a point of order.

Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On direct relevance: the Prime Minister hasn't referred to what the member for Curtin said. And why doesn't he ever talk about the National Energy Guarantee?

Mr Albanese interjecting—

Mr Pyne interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Leader of the House will cease interjecting. He's baiting you; you're baiting me. Just before I call the Prime Minister, I'll rule on the point of order and refer the Leader of the Opposition to his preamble, which opened both gates.

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr Speaker. The Labor Party gets very sensitive when you bring up two issues. One is the carbon tax. They don't want to talk about the carbon tax and the fact that the Labor Party today have not ruled out introducing a carbon tax on the Australian people. The other thing they don't want to talk about is the reckless nature of their 45 per cent target—which is almost 10 times larger, in terms of the carbon price that was proposed under the previous carbon tax—that they've announced. It will push up electricity prices and will close industries around the country. It is a wrecking ball on the Australian economy, what the Labor Party are proposing.

They believe that they are going to walk into government. The leader of the Labor Party is the most cocky, swaggering, arrogant leader at the moment. He thinks it's all done. The hubris that is coming from the other side of the chamber is quite extraordinary—very, very cocky. But what the Australian people will increasingly focus on between now and the next election is that Labor are planning big changes for our economy: $200 billion worth of taxes; reckless targets which will put up electricity prices for pensioners, for families. Labor cannot be trusted on the economy.