Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change and Water) Share this | Hansard source

Yes, you did set up the first Australian Greenhouse Office—I will take that interjection, Senator Macdonald—and do you know what? I think tomorrow is the 10th anniversary of the first report presented to your government recommending an emissions trading scheme. So, 10 years ago, your government had a recommendation to establish an emissions trading scheme, and that was the beginning of 10 further years of denial and neglect by those opposite because you are not up to the challenge.

Senator Boswell comes in here and says he is the friend of working people. It is a pity he did not think about that when he joined up with the rest of the opposition to pass the Work Choices legislation. I would like to see if Senator Boswell is going to be one of the ones who say, ‘Yes, Work Choices is dead,’ because so far what we have seen on the other side is that they just cannot bear to let it go.

Going back to the emissions trading scheme, I want to just remind senators opposite of this statement. I could do a Senator Abetz—you know, ‘Who said that?’—but really it was not very funny when he did that, so I will not try and copy it. Mr Turnbull, in May 2008, said:

The biggest element in the fight against climate change has to be the emissions-trading scheme …

Mr Turnbull, at the Press Club, said:

The Emissions Trading Scheme is the central mechanism to decarbonise our economy.

Now what is Mr Turnbull saying? He is saying, ‘Oh, look, it’s not really a necessary tool at all.’ Do you know why? Because senators like those opposite, the sceptics from Western Australia and the sceptics from Queensland, who do not want to act on climate change, who want to dump this issue, this great challenge that this country faces, are looking for any reason they can find to oppose action on climate change, just like they did for more than the last decade.

The fact is that we know that climate change is not going to go away. Senator Boswell and others can come along to committees and argue the science all they like. Perhaps they should go out and talk to a few Australians about this issue, because people understand what is required. What we need to do is to make a transition across our economy. We have to move to a lower-polluting economy. We have to respond to climate change, and Australians understand that. And, yes, we have an absolute responsibility to ensure that we support the jobs of today while we are making that transition. That is why the government has put in place substantial assistance through free permits and the provision of funds—about $750 million for the coal sector, as well as free permits for those companies in Australia who face the highest costs under the scheme. We understand the importance of that.

I again remind Senator Boswell that the Treasury modelling, which is the largest modelling exercise in the nation’s history, shows that we continue to grow as an economy, including in emissions-intensive sectors, and that modelling in fact assumes less generous assistance than the government is proposing. Senator Boswell would have more credibility if he just came into this place and said, ‘I simply oppose any action on climate change because I don’t think it’s real.’ He should just say that because that is his position.

The problem is that that has not been Mr Turnbull’s position. It is now apparently becoming Mr Turnbull’s position as he is pursued by Peter Costello. That is the reality of the politics on the other side: the sceptics, who are substantially represented in this chamber, who do not wish to take action on climate change, are running the Liberal Party’s policy when it comes to climate change action. Senator Boswell is amongst those in the opposition who simply do not want to take action.

As I said in question time, we also saw this week a company that the opposition had tried to use, had tried to point to and say, ‘They’re going to close down,’ come out and say, ‘We don’t know why Mr Robb would say that.’ Well, I can tell you why he would say that—because you on that side will do and say anything to avoid this responsibility, to avoid taking action.