Julian McGauran (Victoria, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

A very good man. A very honest man. I bet that he sits alone at dinner time. I bet the Prime Minister gave him a phone call after that—or maybe he did not, because I do not think Martin Ferguson would take phone calls from the Prime Minister. They have had certain clashes in the past.

It is with that backdrop that the Liberal Party have come to the debate. We understand that carbon pollution cannot be tackled from the extreme end—the Senator Penny Wong end and the Mr Rudd end, if you like. The coalition believe that there should be a carbon pollution reduction scheme, but one that does not wreck the Australian economy and also one that is not agreed to before Copenhagen or until the rest of the world has signed up to one. To the extent that climate change is affected by man-made pollution, the best way to fight it is with a strong economy so that the major polluters like the coal industry have the finances to invest in clean coal technologies and expensive, long-range research can be undertaken in alternative fuels, like solar energy.

Time is against me—there are other speaks on this legislation—but, if I had more time, I would discuss how the effects that this legislation will range across the economy. It is not a glib statement that I make. The facts and figures are there for the dairy industry, the beef industry, the coal industry and the aluminium industry. This legislation will affect every big business, small business and medium-sized business, according to a report by the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. They have noted the impact of the scheme in detail. They are not just protecting their own little corner; they are noting just how damaging this scheme will be.

But where are the unions to protect the jobs? Where are the unions to tell the government about their own scheme? Where are the great protectors of jobs? They got their legislation—‘fair workplaces’ or whatever it is called. We will soon hear about it—there is no doubt about that—as it makes its way through the economy and the thugs return to the workplaces. But where are the unions to protect the jobs of the coalminers? If you listen to the previous speakers, they would have coalminers as waiters in some restaurant or rainforest resort—that is where they are going to send the coalminers. The unions ought to be ashamed of themselves. I saw the leader of the ACTU wandering the corridors today. What was she talking about? She was certainly not talking about this scheme. (Time expired)