Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research) Share this | Hansard source

The question is: how does an advanced industrial economy like ours adjust to the challenges of climate change? The answer—it is a pity the opposition does not understand this—is to attract new investment, to find new technologies, to develop new processes and to ensure that our industries are able to meet these challenges head-on and maintain their international competitiveness. We will establish a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme that will provide the certainty to enable industry to invest in long-lived assets like power stations and of course steel plants. Taking the lead ahead of some countries we understand how important it is not to undermine competitiveness. In fact we understand that climate change is a global challenge and the design of the scheme, as Senator Wong has outlined, will address the competitive challenges facing emissions-intensive trade-exposed firms. We will work in partnership with energy-intensive industries on research and development and on the application of new technologies to reduce emissions wherever possible. (Time expired)