Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Health Administration) Share this | Hansard source

This is absolute double dipping, like Senator Johnston just said. It is a drive-by shooting. Minister, I ask you a very specific question: what has the Rudd government done to satisfy itself that there will not be a flow-on impact on the price of domestic gas and electricity in Western Australia? Can the minister give an assurance here and now that the people of Western Australia will not pay the price for this additional tax?

I will not waste the time of the chamber. I place on record that I asked the minister a very specific question and that he refused to answer it. He refused to even get out of his chair. The very specific question was: did the government do anything to satisfy themselves that this would not put upward pressure on the price of domestic gas and electricity in Western Australia? Will the minister be able to here and now give a guarantee to the people of Western Australia that they will not pay more for the price of gas and the price of electricity as a result of this tax? I place on record that the minister could not even be bothered to get out of his chair to provide an answer.

Question put:

That the requests (Senator Conroy’s) be agreed to.