Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Northern Australia) Share this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. I ask the minister if she has read the publicly available media release about the issue, where it is clearly indicated that the Labor government’s CPRS was one of the causes of the closure—along with, I might add, a substantial increase in taxes by the Queensland Labor government. Is the minister aware of that? Has she read the media release? Will the minister also assure cement and other energy-intensive industries in Australia that any future emissions trading scheme will be designed in such a way as to avoid the additional costs and taxes on Australian industry that are not borne by competitors in other countries, such as those in South-East Asia? Does the minister understand the severity of what is happening to Australian workers’ jobs?