Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Corporate Governance and Responsibility) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to Senator Minchin, the Minister representing the Prime Minister. Is the minister aware of the call for a national carbon emissions trading scheme by the major energy and gas suppliers today? Does not this follow calls from CEOs of other major businesses, including BP, IAG, Origin Energy, Visy, and Westpac for such a trading scheme? Is not the government’s continued refusal to heed these calls from business now threatening billions of dollars of much-needed investment in electricity generation capacity with the potential to impact on Australia’s future economic prosperity? Will the minister finally acknowledge that a national trading scheme makes economic and environmental sense or does he still claim that these business leaders have got it wrong?