Ron Boswell (Queensland, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I ran a business that had nine people employed. I paid the wage bill; I paid the electricity bill; I paid the petrol bill; I paid every bill that came in. I know my small business colleagues are going to have this legislation inflicted on them. I know what they are going through now out there. It is not only me that knows but the Chamber of Commerce also knows. This is the biggest employer group. I salute them, because they have stated the truth. They have not tried to get in bed with the Labor Party like Ms Heather Ridout, whom my colleague called a camp follower, yesterday—and I think that she was perfectly right. The Chamber of Commerce have not gone with the Business Council of Australia; the Chamber of Commerce have represented their constituency.

It says here that the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, ‘Australia’s largest and most representative business organisation,’ says that consumer concerns about the impact of carbon reduction on electricity prices are as follows: 71 per cent believe CPRS will raise electricity prices; 49 per cent believe there will be job losses; 82 per cent do not believe enough information has been provided about the CPRS; 54 per cent believe Australia should delay the introduction of a CPRS until after Copenhagen; and 12 per cent do not know. So you have 54 per cent of 90 per cent. Every one of you, although you might not ever have been involved in active work or blue-collar work, certainly knows how to spend and certainly knows how to read a poll. That is what you are good at. You can read polls and you can spin, but you have lost your way. You have lost your way to represent the blue-collar worker. You have lost your way.

I made a statement on radio just a couple of days ago when the Coral Sea was closed down. The blue-collar workers, the tradies, up there who have a boat and an outboard motor and generally vote Labor asked: ‘What have we got to do? How do we get to these people?’ I said: ‘Well, it’s obvious. Elect the people that represent you.’ Then McKenzie, the commentator, asked, ‘Was having all these meetings a waste of time?’ I said, ‘No, it wasn’t a waste of time’—