Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It truly was a remarkable performance. Senator Carr should have been grateful for the points of order because they did help him out remarkably. We found it funny. Of course, I noted not everybody on the other side found it funny. There were senators with their faces buried in their hands. Senator Ray had to leave the chamber during one of Senator Carr’s remarkable performances, such was his lack of humour at the performance we saw put on.

We saw Senator Carr flail from issue to issue to issue today. When asked up-front about the news that is across all the newspapers today about the estimated windfall revenue gain that the government may get from its carbon emissions trading scheme—the government may receive up to $20 billion—Senator Carr had no idea. He clearly had not read his clips, had not been briefed or could not find the brief. Whatever it was, he had no idea that there could be $20 billion coming the government’s way and could not tell us whether they were going to pocket that or whether they were going to give it back to households, to working families and to Australians to meet the increased costs that will come with climate change. Indeed, when asked directly by Senator Milne about the Labor Party’s policies and how they might go about helping working families adjust to the costs of climate change, once again Senator Carr could not answer. That was not a question about somebody else’s comments; that was a direct question from Senator Milne, who I see has entered the chamber, about Labor’s policies that they took to the election. We saw Senator Carr with no idea. He had no idea on their policy, no direction at all.

When asked about petrol supply, which Senator Wortley just talked about, the best he could do was talk about petrol prices because that was the brief that he could find. He looked up ‘p’ for petrol, found something on petrol prices and thought, ‘This will do.’ Nothing on petrol supply was uttered—nothing, because he could not find a brief to refer to, quite clearly. He was hapless and hopeless without finding such a brief. It really was a remarkable performance.

Then when questioned about plastic bags he repeated the ‘no Commonwealth levy’ assurance given by Mr Garrett, after some flip-flopping on the issue, of course, and after overturning what had been said in Senate estimates evidence. The minister for the environment had already changed where the government was going on this. Senator Carr today was asked not about a Commonwealth levy—because we will take the government at its word that there will not be a Commonwealth levy—but about the government’s position on any levy on plastic bags. Indeed, what I suspect will occur when the environment ministers meet is we will see an agreement to have a uniform national levy implemented by the states and territories. It will be a national levy by backdoor mechanisms. They will be able to say it was not a Commonwealth levy, but it will be a national levy and it will hurt working families. It will hurt working families just because this government wants glib headlines about plastic bags rather than seriously tackling issues of waste management.

Senator Carr has another six or seven weeks now to sweat it out before he has to face question time again. And sweat it out I have no doubt he will. We will no doubt see, if these performances continue, that one day the Prime Minister will have to say to Senator Carr, as they do in the TV show The Weakest Link, ‘You are the weakest link—goodbye!’ and welcome somebody else to the front bench to replace the unable Senator Carr. (Time expired)