Angus Taylor (Hume, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Climate Change and Energy: Toyota has said Labor's new family car and new tax will lead to price rises or companies rationalising their product offerings, and that it will have a huge impact on not just tradies, but also farmers' families, remote area workers and many more. Why are Australian families facing higher prices and fewer choices because of this government's policies?

Chris Bowen (McMahon, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change and Energy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Hume for his question. Seventy-seven minutes in the Shadow Treasurer gets a question, and he doesn't put it to the Treasurer. If I were the member for Hume, I'm not sure I would have asked about energy prices or price rises, given the member for Hume signed a law to keep price rises secret before the last election. He intervened to sign a regulation to keep price rises a secret until a week after people voted instead of a couple of weeks before. That is something that is very much to the discredit of the member for Hume.

The member for Hume asked me about new vehicular efficiency standards. He was a member of a cabinet which endorsed the member for Bradfield and others going out and consulting on new vehicle emission standards and then rolled the member for Bradfield and wouldn't let him implement it. We've taken the approach of consulting on the detailed design, as a good government should and would. We've been consulting on the detailed policy, as a consultative government would.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The minister will pause. The member for Hume has been interjecting constantly. He's warned. If he interjects once more, he'll leave.

Chris Bowen (McMahon, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change and Energy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That's what we've been doing. I look forward to joining the minister for transport to announce the results of that consultation. It'll result in a better outcome for Australian consumers and motorists, who've been grouped in with Russia for too long as the only motorists in the world without access to new vehicle efficiency standards.