Barnaby Joyce (Queensland, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

The Greens have a position for every moment of the day. They are either in kayaks or supporting the Labor Party in building Traveston Dam; then they come in here and try to be relevant and authentic.

A great deal of work has gone into Senator Xenophon’s amendment. In relation to part 12, clause 167, page 207, after line 10, after subclause (1) where the amendment inserts subclauses, we have queries concerning:

… free Australian emissions units … in accordance with the program ...

And we have queries in relation to subclause (1H) and ‘10 months’. These are issues that we think need further investigation. On ‘five per cent and 15 per cent’ and ‘at least 20 per cent’, it would be dangerous to go to this detail without further investigation. The same applies to subclause (1A) and ‘at least 10 per cent’.

Although these gestures appear to be noble, the National Party have concerns about the extent to which they take us. Senator Xenophon’s position is far more relevant and approachable than what the Australian Labor Party have put forward, which is a complete and utter disaster for our economy. I commend Senator Xenophon for the work he has put into this. The National Party will not support it. We will not spend the whole night damning him with faint praise, which is what the Greens just did before they got to the crucial part: that they are not going to support it. Senator Xenophon, thank you very much for the work you have done on this, but the National Party will not be supporting it. As for the Greens, they are totally off with the fairies.